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Chapter 23 |
| 1 | Then they told
David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the
threshingfloors. |
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2 | Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall
I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite
the Philistines, and save Keilah. |
| 3 | And David's men said unto him,
Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah
against the armies of the Philistines? |
| 4 | Then David inquired of the LORD
yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I
will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. |
| 5 | So David and
his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their
cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants
of Keilah. |
| 6
| And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech
fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
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| 7 | And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God
hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town
that hath gates and bars. |
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8 | And Saul called all the people together
to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. |
| 9 | And David
knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar
the priest, Bring hither the ephod. |
| 10 | Then said David, O LORD God
of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to
Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. |
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11 | Will the men of Keilah
deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O
LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He
will come down. |
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12 | Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me
and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee
up. |
| 13 |
Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose
and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was
told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.
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| 14 | And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a
mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God
delivered him not into his hand. |
| 15 | And David saw that Saul was
come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a
wood. |
| 16 |
And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the
wood, and strengthened his hand in God. |
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17 | And he said unto him, Fear
not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king
over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father
knoweth. |
| 18
| And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David
abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. |
| 19 | Then came up
the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in
strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of
Jeshimon? |
| 20
| Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the
desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the
king's hand. |
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21 | And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye
have compassion on me. |
| 22 | Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and
see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told
me that he dealeth very subtilly. |
| 23 | See therefore, and take
knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again
to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if
he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of
Judah. |
| 24
| And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David
and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of
Jeshimon. |
| 25
| Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told
David; wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon.
And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of
Maon. |
| 26 |
And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his
men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of
Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take
them. |
| 27 |
But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and
come; for the Philistines have invaded the land. |
| 28 | Wherefore
Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines:
therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth. |
| 29 | And David
went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi. |
