1 Samuel 23:19-29

Holman Christian Standard Bible

David’s Narrow Escape

¹⁹ Some Ziphites^(A) came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is^[a] hiding among us in the strongholds in Horesh on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon. ²⁰ Now, whenever the king wants to come down, let him come down. Our part will be to hand him over to the king.”^(B)

²¹ “May you be blessed by the Lord,” replied Saul, “for you have taken pity on me.^{(C) 22} Go and check again. Investigate and watch carefully where he goes^[b] and who has seen him there; they tell me he is extremely cunning. ²³ Look and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I’ll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I’ll search for him among all the clans^[c] of Judah.” ²⁴ So they went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

Now David and his men were in the wilderness near Maon^(D) in the Arabah south of Jeshimon, ²⁵ and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.

²⁶ Saul went along one side of the mountain and David and his men went along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away from Saul, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.^{(E) 27} Then a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have raided the land!” ²⁸ So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation. ^29 [d]From there David went up and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi.^(F)