Read Amplified Bible, 2015 1 Samuel 23 Bible Online

1 Samuel 23 - Amplified Bible, 2015 bible

1 Samuel 23

¹Then they told David, saying, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering (robbing) the threshing floors [of the grain]."

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 save Keilah."

³But David's men said to him, "Listen, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the battle lines of the Philistines?"

⁴Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, "Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will hand over the Philistines to you."

⁵So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; he drove away their cattle and struck them with a great slaughter. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷Now when Saul was informed that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, "God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city that has double gates and bars."

⁸So Saul summoned all the people (soldiers) for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here."

¹⁰Then David said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul intends to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.

¹¹Will the men of Keilah hand me over to him? 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 asked, "Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?" The LORD said, "They will surrender you."

¹³Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.

¹⁴David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.

¹⁵Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the Wilderness of Ziph [in the woods] at Horesh.

¹⁶And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went [into the woods] to David at Horesh, and[1] encouraged him in God.

¹⁷He said to him, "Do not be afraid; the hand of my father Saul will not find you. You will be king over Israel and I will be second in command to you; my father Saul knows this too."

¹⁸So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD; and David stayed [in the woods] at Horesh and Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of[2] Jeshimon?

²⁰Now then, O king, come down [to Ziph] in accordance with all your heart's desire to do so [and capture him]; and our part shall be to hand him over to the king."

²¹Saul said, "May you be blessed by the LORD, because you have had compassion on me.

²²Go now, be very persistent and investigate, and see where his[3] haunt is and who has seen him there; for I am told he is very cunning.

²³So look, and take note of all the places where he hides and come back to me with the established facts, then I will go with you. If he is [anywhere] in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah."

²⁴So they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.

²⁵Then Saul and his men went to search for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed [there] in the Wilderness of Maon. 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 capture them.

²⁷But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, because the Philistines have attacked the land."

²⁸So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.

²⁹[4] David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.