1 Samuel 23

David Saves the City of Keilah

1 Now they told David, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against e Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors." 2 Therefore David f inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And the Lord said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah." 3 But David's men said to him, "Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?" 4 Then David f inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, "Arise, go down to Keilah, g for I will give the Philistines into your hand." 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

6 h When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, "God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars." 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, i "Bring the ephod here." 10 Then said David, "O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant." And the Lord said, "He will come down." 12 Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, j "They will surrender you." 13 Then David and his men, k who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went l wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country m of the wilderness of n Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. o Saul my father also knows this." 18 p And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

19 q Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of r Jeshimon? 20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, s and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand." 21 And Saul said, t "May you be blessed by the Lord, u for you have had compassion on me. 22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah."

24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were v in the wilderness of Maon, w in the Arabah to the south of r Jeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after 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. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land." 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 1 29 2 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of x Engedi.

  1. Cross References
    Joshua 15:44
    Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages.
  2. Cross References
    1 Samuel 22:10
    And he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
  3. Cross References
    1 Samuel 23:2
    Therefore David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And the Lord said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.
  4. Cross References
    1 Samuel 23:14
    And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
    Joshua 24:11
    And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand.
    Judges 7:7
    And the Lord said to Gideon, "With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.
    Judges 20:28
    And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, "Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?" And the Lord said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.
  5. Cross References
    1 Samuel 22:20
    But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
  6. Cross References
    1 Samuel 30:7
    And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
    Numbers 27:21
    And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.
  7. Cross References
    1 Samuel 23:20
    Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.
  8. Cross References
    1 Samuel 25:13
    And David said to his men, "Every man strap on his sword!" And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
    1 Samuel 27:2
    So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
    1 Samuel 22:2
    And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.
    1 Samuel 30:9 - 10
    So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.
  9. Cross References
    2 Samuel 15:20
    You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 63:1
    O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
  11. Cross References
    Joshua 15:24
    Ziph, Telem, Bealoth.
  12. Cross References
    1 Samuel 24:20
    And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.
    1 Samuel 20:31
    For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.
  13. Cross References
    1 Samuel 18:3
    Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
    1 Samuel 20:8
    Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?
    1 Samuel 20:16
    And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies.
    1 Samuel 20:42
    Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'" And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
    2 Samuel 21:7
    But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
  14. Cross References
    1 Samuel 26:1
    Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?
    Psalms 54:1
    O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.
  15. Cross References
    Numbers 21:20
    And from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that looks down on the desert.
  16. Cross References
    1 Samuel 23:12
    Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will surrender you.
  17. Cross References
    Ruth 2:20
    And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.
  18. Cross References
    1 Samuel 22:8
    That all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.
  19. Cross References
    1 Samuel 25:2
    And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
    Joshua 15:55
    Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah.
  20. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 1:1
    These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
  21. Cross References
    1 Samuel 23:19
    Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?
  22. Cross References
    Joshua 15:62
    Nibshan, the City of Salt, and Engedi: six cities with their villages.
    2 Chronicles 20:2
    Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, Engedi).
    Song of Solomon 1:14
    My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi.
    Ezekiel 47:10
    Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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