NAS - 1 Samuel Chapter 23 to 24

23 David Delivers Keilah

¹Then they told David, saying, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors." ²So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And the LORD said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah." ³But David's men said to him, "Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?" ⁴Then David inquired of the LORD once more. And the LORD answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand." ⁵So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. ⁷When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars." ⁸So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. ⁹Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here." ¹⁰Then David said, "O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking 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 just as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant." And the LORD said, "He will come down." ¹²Then 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." ¹³Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit. ¹⁴David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

¹⁵Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. ¹⁶And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God. ¹⁷Thus he said to him, "Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also." ¹⁸So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? ²⁰"Now then, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to do so; and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand." ²¹Saul said, "May you be blessed of the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. ²²"Go now, make more sure, and investigate and see his place where his haunt is, 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 hides himself 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."

²⁴Then they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. ²⁵When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. ²⁶Saul 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, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to seize them. ²⁷But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land." ²⁸So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape. ²⁹David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.

24 David Spares Saul's Life

¹Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi." ²Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. ⁴The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, `Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.'" Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul's robe secretly. ⁵It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe. ⁶So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD'S anointed." ⁷David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.

⁸Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. ⁹David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, `Behold, David seeks to harm you'? ¹⁰"Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, `I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD'S anointed.' ¹¹"Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. ¹²"May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹³"As the proverb of the ancients says, `Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness'; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴"After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? ¹⁵"The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand."

¹⁶When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ¹⁷He said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. ¹⁸"You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the LORD delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. ¹⁹"For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the LORD therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰"Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. ²¹"So now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father's household." ²²David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.