1SA-23:1  Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines

fight

against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.

1SA-23:2  Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I

go and

smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and

smite

the Philistines, and save Keilah.

1SA-23:3  And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid

here in

Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the

armies of

the Philistines?

1SA-23:4  Then David inquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD

answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah: for I will

deliver

the Philistines into thine hand.

1SA-23:5  So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with

the

Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a

great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

1SA-23:6  And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of

Ahimelech fled

to David to Keilah, [that] he came down [with] an ephod in his

hand.

1SA-23:7  And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah.

And Saul

said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in,

by

entering into a town that hath gates and bars.

1SA-23:8  And Saul called all the people together to war, to go

down

to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

1SA-23:9  And David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief

against

him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.

1SA-23:10  Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant

hath

certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy

the

city for my sake.

1SA-23:11  Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand?

will

Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel,

I

beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come

down.

1SA-23:12  Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me

and my

men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver

[thee]

up.

1SA-23:13  Then David and his men, [which were] about six

hundred,

arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they

could

go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and

he

forbare to go forth.

1SA-23:14  And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and

remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul

sought him

every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

1SA-23:15  And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life:

 and

David [was] in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

1SA-23:16  And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into

the

wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

1SA-23:17  And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul

my

father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel,

and I

shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.

1SA-23:18  And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and

David

abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

1SA-23:19  Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying,

Doth

not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in

the

hill of Hachilah, which [is] on the south of Jeshimon?

1SA-23:20  Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the

desire of thy soul to come down; and our part [shall be] to

deliver

him into the king's hand.

1SA-23:21  And Saul said, Blessed [be] ye of the LORD; for ye

have

compassion on me.

1SA-23:22  Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his

place

where his haunt is, [and] who hath seen him there: for it is

told me

[that] he dealeth very subtly.

1SA-23:23  See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking

places

where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the

certainty,

and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in

the

land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of

Judah.

1SA-23:24  And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but

David and

his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the

south of

Jeshimon.

1SA-23:25  Saul also and his men went to seek [him]. And they

told

David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the

wilderness

of Maon. And when Saul heard [that], he pursued after David in

the

wilderness of Maon.

1SA-23:26  And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David

and

his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to

get away

for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his

men

round about to take them.

1SA-23:27  But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste

thee,

and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.

1SA-23:28  Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David,

and went

against the Philistines: therefore they called that place

Selahammahlekoth.

1SA-23:29  And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong

holds at

Engedi.



~~~~~~