1 Samuel 23
1
Then they told David, saying, "Look, the Philistines are fighting against a Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors."
2
Therefore David b 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."
3
But David's men said to him, "Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?"
4
Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand."
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And David and his men went to Keilah and c fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6
Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech d fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.
7
And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars."
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Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
9
When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, e he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here."
10
Then David said, "O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah f to destroy the city for my sake.
11
"Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant." And the LORD said, "He will come down."
12
Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will deliver you."
13
So David and his men, g about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.
14
And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in h the mountains in the Wilderness of i Ziph. Saul j sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
15
So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest.
16
Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.
17
And he said to him, k "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. l Even my father Saul knows that."
18
So the two of them m made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
19
Then the Ziphites n came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
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"Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and o our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand."
21
And Saul said, "Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me.
22
"Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty.
23
"See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah."
24
So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness p of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
25
When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.
26
Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. q So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men r were encircling David and his men to take them.
27
s But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!"
28
Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape.
29
Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at t En Gedi.
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Cross References
1 Kings 2:26
And to Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.
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Cross References
Joshua 15:44
Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages.
Nehemiah 3:17
After him the Levites, under Rehum the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah, leader of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.
Nehemiah 3:18
After him their brethren, under Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of the other half of the district of Keilah, made repairs.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 22:10
"And he inquired of the LORD for him, gave him ...
1 Samuel 23:4
Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And...
1 Samuel 23:6
Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahime...
1 Samuel 23:9
When David knew that Saul plotted evil against ...
1 Samuel 28:6
And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD di...
1 Samuel 30:8
So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I...
2 Samuel 5:19
So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I...
2 Samuel 5:23
Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He sa...
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Cross References
1 Samuel 19:8
And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him.
2 Samuel 5:20
So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water." Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 22:20
Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
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Cross References
Numbers 27:21
"He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him - all the congregation."
1 Samuel 23:6
Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.
1 Samuel 30:7
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 22:19
Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep - with the edge of the sword.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 22:2
And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.
1 Samuel 25:13
Then David said to his men, "Every man gird on his sword." So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.
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Cross References
Psalms 11:1
In the LORD I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain"?
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Cross References
Joshua 15:55
Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah.
2 Chronicles 11:8
Gath, Mareshah, Ziph.
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Cross References
Psalms 32:7
You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
Psalms 54:3
For strangers have risen up against me, And oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them. Selah
Psalms 54:4
Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life.
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Cross References
Psalms 27:1 - 3
The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Hebrews 13:6
So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
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Cross References
1 Samuel 20:31
"For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die."
1 Samuel 24:20
And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 18:3
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
1 Samuel 20:12 - 17
Then Jonathan said to David: "The LORD God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you.
1 Samuel 20:42
Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, 'May the LORD be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.' " So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
2 Samuel 9:1
Now David said, "Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
2 Samuel 21:7
But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 26:1
Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?
Psalms 54:1
Save me, O God, by Your name, And vindicate me by Your strength.
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Cross References
Psalms 54:3
For strangers have risen up against me, And oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them. Selah
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Cross References
Joshua 15:55
Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah.
1 Samuel 25:2
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
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Cross References
Psalms 31:22
For I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before Your eyes"; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You.
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Cross References
Psalms 17:9
From the wicked who oppress me, From my deadly enemies who surround me.
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Cross References
2 Kings 19:9
And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "Look, he has come out to make war with you." So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.