¹⁷ After him the Levites made repairs: Rehum son of Bani; next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of^[a] Keilah, made repairs for his district.

⁴⁴ Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine towns with their villages.

¹⁶ After him Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of^[a] Beth-zur, repaired from a point opposite the graves of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Warriors.^(A)

⁴ “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, six thousand shall be officers and judges,^(A)

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 Now they told David, “The Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”^{(A) 2} David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”^{(B) 3} But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” ⁴ Then David inquired of the Lord again. The Lord answered him, “Yes, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”^{(C) 5} So David and his men went to Keilah, fought with the Philistines, brought away their livestock, and dealt them a heavy defeat. Thus David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ When Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.^{(D) 7} Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given^[a] him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” ⁸ Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. ⁹ When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.”^{(E) 10} David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. ¹¹ And now, will^[b] Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant.” The Lord said, “He will come down.” ¹² Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” The Lord said, “They will surrender you.”^{(F) 13} Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they wandered wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.^(G)