⁶ Now after Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, fled to David, he had accompanied David to Keilah,^[a] bringing a priestly vest^[b] with him. ⁷ When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over^[c] to me now because he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars!” ⁸ So Saul called up all his troops for war, to go down to Keilah and attack David and his soldiers.

⁹ When David learned that Saul was planning to harm him, he told the priest Abiathar, “Bring the priestly vest now.”

¹⁰ Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, I, your servant, have heard that Saul plans on coming to Keilah and will destroy the town because of me. ¹¹ Lord God of Israel, will Saul come down as your servant has heard?^[d] Please tell your servant.”

“Yes, he will come down,” the Lord answered.

¹² Next David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my soldiers over to Saul?”

“Yes, they will hand you over,” the Lord replied.

¹³ So David and his troops—approximately six hundred men—got up and left Keilah. They kept moving, going from one place to the next. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he didn’t go there.

¹⁴ David lived in the fortresses in the wilderness and in the hills of the Ziph wilderness. Saul searched for him constantly, but God did not hand David over to Saul. ¹⁵ While David was at Horesh in the Ziph wilderness he learned that Saul was looking to kill him.