1st Shamu'AL (1 Samuel) — 23
Daud Protects the Town of Kailah
1 One day news came to Daud that the Philistines were at Kailah stealing grain from the threshing floors.
2 Daud asked 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, “Should I go and attack them? Yes, go and save Keilah,” 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH told him.
3 But Daud’s men said, “We are afraid even here in Yahudah. We certainly do not want to go to Kailah to fight the whole Philistine army!”
4 So Daud asked 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH again, and again 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH replied, “Go down to Kailah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.”
5 So Daud and his men went to Kailah. They slaughtered the Philistines and took all their livestock and rescued the people of Kailah.
6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimalach fled to Daud at Kailah, he brought the ephod with him.
7 Shaul soon learned that Daud was at Kailah. “Good! “We have got him now! 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself in a walled town!”
8 So Shaul mobilized his entire army to march to Kailah and besiege Daud and his men.
9 But Daud learned of Shaul’s plan and told Abiathar the Kuhan to bring the ephod and ask 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH what he should do.
10 Then Daud prayed, “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, our 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of Yashar'AL, I have heard that Shaul is planning to come and destroy Kailah because I am here.
11 Will the leaders of Kailah betray me to him? And will Shaul actually come as I have heard? O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of Yashar'AL, please tell me. And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar to Daud, “He will come.”
12 Again Daud asked, “Will the leaders of Kailah betray me and my men to Shaul?” And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH replied, “Yes, they will betray you.”
Daud Hides in the Wilderness
13 So Daud and his men, about six hundred of them left Keilah and began roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Shaul that Daud had escaped, so he did not go to Kailah after all.
14 Daud now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Shaul hunted him day after day, but 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH did not let Shaul find him.
15 One day near Hurash, Daud received the news that Shaul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him.
16 Yunathan went to find Daud and encouraged him to stay strong in his Amunah in 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH.
17 “Do not be afraid,” Yunathan reassured Daud. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Yashar'AL, and I will be next to you, as my father, Shaul, is well aware.”
18 So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH. Then Yunathan returned home, while Daud stayed at Hurash.
19 But now the men of Ziph went to Shaul in Gibaah and betrayed Daud to him. “We know where Daud is hiding,” they said. “He is in the strongholds of Hurash on the hill of Hakilah, which is in the southern part of Yashimun.
20 Come down whenever you are ready, O king, and we will catch him and hand him over to you!”
21 May 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH barak you,” Shaul said. “At last someone is concerned about me!
22 Go and check again to be sure of where he is staying and who has seen him there, for I know that he is very crafty.
23 Discover his hiding places, and come back when you are sure, then I will go with you, and if he is in the area at all, I will track him down, even if I have to search every hiding place in Yahudah!”
24 So the men of Ziph returned home ahead of Shaul. Meanwhile, Daud and his men had moved into the wilderness of Maun in the Arabah Valley south of Yashimun.
25 When Daud heard that King Shaul and his men were searching for him, he went even farther into the wilderness to the great rock, and he remained there in the wilderness of Maun. But Shaul kept after him in the wilderness.
26 Shaul and Daud were now on opposite sides of a mountain. Just as Shaul and his men began to close in on Daud and his men,
27 an urgent message reached Shaul that the Philistines were raiding Yashar'AL again.
28 So Shaul quit chasing Daud and returned to fight the Philistines. Ever since that time, the place where Daud was camped has been called the Rock of Escape.
29 Daud then went to live in the strongholds of An-gady.