1Then they told David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are plundering the threshing floors.”
2So David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go and strike down these Philistines?” And Yahweh said to David, “Go, strike down the Philistines, and deliver Keilah.”
3But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the battle lines of the Philistines?”
4So David inquired of Yahweh yet again, and Yahweh answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I am giving the Philistines into your hand.”
5So David and his men went to Keilah and fought against the Philistines; he drove off their livestock and struck them with a great blow. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.
6Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, an ephod came down in his hand.
7And it was told to Saul that David had come to Keilah, and Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has shut himself in by entering a town with double gates and a bar.”
8So Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
9But David knew that Saul was secretly plotting evil against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
10Then David said, “Yahweh, God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.
11Will the lords of Keilah hand me over into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Yahweh, God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And Yahweh said, “He will come down.”
12Then David said, “Will the lords of Keilah hand me and my men over into Saul’s hand?” And Yahweh said, “They will hand you over.”
13So David and his men, about six hundred men, arose and went out from Keilah and moved about wherever they could. And it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, so he ceased going out.
14David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and he stayed in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him all the days, but God did not give him into his hand.
15And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life, while David was in the wilderness of Ziph, at Horesh.
16Then Jonathan son of Saul arose and went to David at Horesh, and he strengthened his hand in God.
17And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father will not find you; and you will reign over Israel, and I will be second to you. And Saul my father also knows this.”
18So the two of them cut a covenant before Yahweh, and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.
19Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, which is south of Jeshimon?
20So now, according to all the desire of your soul, O king, to come down, come down; and it will be ours to hand him over into the king’s hand.”
21And Saul said, “May you be blessed by Yahweh, for you have had compassion on me.
22Go now, make still more certain, and find out and see his place where his foot may be, and who has seen him there; for I have been told that he is very crafty.
23So see and find out about all the hiding places where he hides himself, then return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and it will be, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
24So they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah, south of Jeshimon.
25Saul and his men went to seek him, and it was told to David, so he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard this, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon.
26Saul went along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from before Saul, while Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to seize them.
27But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have raided the land.”
28So Saul turned back from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines. Therefore they called that place the Rock of Divisions.
29And David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi.
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