1 Samuel 23 - 24 — Legacy Standard Bible

David Saves Keilah

23Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against ^aKeilah and are pillaging the threshing floors.” ²So David ^aasked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go and strike these Philistines?” And Yahweh said to David, “Go and strike the Philistines and save 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 battle lines of the Philistines?” ⁴Then David asked of Yahweh once more. And Yahweh answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for ^aI 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 saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶Now it happened when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^afled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. ⁷Then it was told to Saul that David had come to Keilah, so Saul said, “God has ¹delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.” ⁸Then Saul summoned all the people for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. ⁹But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to ^aAbiathar the priest, “^bBring the ephod here.” ¹⁰Then David said, “O Yahweh, the God of Israel, Your slave has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to make the city a ruin on my account. ¹¹“Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your slave has heard? O Yahweh, the God of Israel, I pray, tell Your slave.” And Yahweh said, “He will come down.” ¹²Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And Yahweh said, “^aThey will surrender you.” ¹³Then David and his men, ^aabout six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went ^bwherever they could go. Now it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, so he ceased going out in pursuit. ¹⁴And David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of ^aZiph. And Saul sought him every day, but ^bGod did not give him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

¹⁵Then David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. Now David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. ¹⁶So Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh and ^astrengthened his hand in God. ¹⁷And he said to him, “^aDo 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 second to you; and ^bSaul my father knows that also.” ¹⁸So ^athe two of them cut a covenant before Yahweh; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then ^aZiphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on ^bthe hill of Hachilah, which is on the ¹south of ²Jeshimon? ²⁰“So now, O king, according to all the desire of your soul to come down, come down here; and ^aour part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” ²¹And Saul said, “May you be blessed of Yahweh, ^afor you have had compassion on me. ²²“Go now, make more sure, and know and see his place—where his very foot is—and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very crafty. ²³“So see and know 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 ^aMaon, in the Arabah to the ¹south of ²Jeshimon. ²⁵So Saul and his men went to seek him, and they told David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard it and pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. ²⁶And 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, but Saul and his men ^awere 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 ¹the Rock of Escape. ²⁹¹Then David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of ^aEngedi.

David Does Not Kill Saul

24Now ^awhen Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, ^bhe was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” ²Then ^aSaul 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. ³And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul ^awent in to ¹relieve himself. Now ^bDavid and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. ⁴Then the men of David said to him, “Behold, ^athis is the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, ^bI am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good in your eyes.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. ⁵And it happened afterward that ^aDavid’s heart struck him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. ⁶So he said to his men, “^aFar be it from me because of Yahweh that I should do this thing to my lord, the anointed of Yahweh, to send forth my hand against him, since he is the anointed of Yahweh.” ⁷And David tore his men to pieces with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, ¹left 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, ^aDavid bowed with his ¹face to the ground and prostrated himself. ⁹And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks ¹to do you evil’? ¹⁰“^aBehold, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh had given you today into my hand in the cave, and ^bsome said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not send forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Yahweh.’ ¹¹“Now, ^amy 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 see that there is no evil or transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you ^bare lying in wait for my life to take it. ¹²“^aMay Yahweh judge between ¹you and me, and may Yahweh avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹³“As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘^aOut 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? ^aAfter a dead dog, after ^ba single flea? ¹⁵“^aTherefore Yahweh be judge and execute justice between ¹you and me; and may He see and ^bplead my cause and execute justice for me to escape from your hand.”

¹⁶Now it happened that when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “^aIs this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ¹⁷^aAnd he said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for ^byou have dealt well with me, while I have dealt evil with you. ¹⁸“And you have declared today that you have done good to me, that ^aYahweh surrendered me into your hand, and yet you did not kill me. ¹⁹“For if a man ^afinds his enemy, will he let him go away ¹safely? May Yahweh therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰“So now, behold, ^aI know that you will surely be king, and that ^bthe kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. ²¹“So now ^aswear to me by Yahweh that you will not cut off my seed after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.” ²²So David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to ^athe fortress.