1 Samuel 23:19-29
New American Standard Bible
19 Then (A)Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not keeping himself hidden with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on (B)the hill of Hachilah, which is south of [a]Jeshimon? 20 Now then, O king, come down, [b]since you fully desire to [c]do so; and (C)our part shall be to hand him over to the king.” 21 Saul said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, (D)since you have had compassion on me. 22 Go now, be more persistent, and investigate and see his place where [d]he is hiding, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning. 23 So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he keeps himself hidden, and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
24 So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of (E)Maon, in the Arabah to the south of [e]Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they informed David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men (F)were surrounding David and his men to apprehend them. 27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have launched an attack against the land!” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines; therefore they called that place [f]the Rock of Division. 29 [g]And David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of (G)Engedi.
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- 1 Samuel 23:19 Or the desert
- 1 Samuel 23:20 Lit according to all your soul’s desire
- 1 Samuel 23:20 Lit come down
- 1 Samuel 23:22 Lit his foot is
- 1 Samuel 23:24 Or the desert
- 1 Samuel 23:28 Heb Sela-hammahlekoth; meaning uncertain, possibly Rock of Smoothness (i.e., “Slippery Rock”)
- 1 Samuel 23:29 Ch 24:1 in Heb
1 Samuel 23:19-29
Common English Bible
19 Some Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah. “David is hiding among us in the fortresses at Horesh on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon,” they said. 20 “So whenever you want to come down, Your Majesty, do it! Leave it to us to hand him over to the king.”
21 “The Lord bless you because you have shown this kindness to me!” Saul said. 22 “Go now and get everything ready. Find out everything you can: where he stays, where he goes, who has seen him. I am told he is very shrewd. 23 Find out every hiding place he uses there and come back to me when you know for certain. I will then go with you. If David is in the area, I will hunt him down among any of Judah’s clans!” 24 So they got up and left for Ziph ahead of Saul.
Meanwhile, David and his soldiers were in the Maon wilderness in the desert plain south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his troops went looking for him, David was told about it, so he went down to a certain rock there and stayed in the Maon wilderness. When Saul heard that, he went into the Maon wilderness after David. 26 Saul was going around one side of a hill there while David and his soldiers were going around the other. David was hurrying to get away from Saul while Saul and his troops were trying to surround David and his soldiers in order to capture them. 27 But a messenger suddenly came to Saul. “Come quick!” he said. “The Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to fight the Philistines. That’s why that place is called Escape Rock. 29 [a] Then David went from there and lived at the En-gedi fortresses.
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- 1 Samuel 23:29 24:1 in Heb
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