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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>1 Samuel 23 ESV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_samuel/23.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_samuel/23-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ESV</a> > 1 Samuel 23</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/22.htm" title="1 Samuel 22">◄</a> 1 Samuel 23 <a href="../1_samuel/24.htm" title="1 Samuel 24">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/1_samuel/23.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">David Saves the City of Keilah</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Therefore David inquired of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>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?” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Then David inquired of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> again. And the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>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.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>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.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Then David said, “O <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> said, “He will come down.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> said, “They will surrender you.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>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.</p> <p class="heading">Saul Pursues David</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>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. Saul my father also knows this.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>And the two of them made a covenant before the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>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? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>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.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, for you have had compassion on me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>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.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.</p><p class="regular">Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>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, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or Rock of Divisions">a</a></sup></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/23-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span><span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Ch 24:1 in Hebrew">b</a></sup></span> And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">28</span> Or <i>Rock of Divisions</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">29</span> Ch 24:1 in Hebrew<br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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