June
15
1
Samuel 23, 24
1Sa
23:1 They told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting
against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors.
1Sa
23:2 Therefore David inquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go and
strike these Philistines? Yahweh said to David, Go, and strike the
Philistines, and save Keilah.
1Sa
23:3 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?
1Sa
23:4 Then David inquired of Yahweh yet again. Yahweh answered him,
and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the
Philistines into your hand.
1Sa
23:5 David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the
Philistines, and brought away their livestock, and killed them with a
great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
1Sa
23:6 It happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David
to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
1Sa
23:7 It was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. Saul said, God
has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a
town that has gates and bars.
1Sa
23:8 Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to
besiege David and his men.
1Sa
23:9 David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he
said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod.
1Sa
23:10 Then said David, O Yahweh, the God of Israel, your servant has
surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city
for my sake.
1Sa
23:11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul
come down, as your servant has heard? Yahweh, the God of Israel, I
beg you, tell your servant. Yahweh said, He will come down.
1Sa
23:12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up to me and
my men into the hand of Saul? Yahweh said, They will deliver you up.
1Sa
23:13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and
departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. It was told
Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there.
1Sa
23:14 David abode in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained
in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every
day, but God didn't deliver him into his hand.
1Sa
23:15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life: and David
was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood.
1Sa
23:16 Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the wood,
and strengthened his hand in God.
1Sa
23:17 He said to him, Don't be afraid; for the hand of Saul my
father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I
shall be next to you; and that also Saul my father knows.
1Sa
23:18 They two made a covenant before Yahweh: and David abode in the
wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
1Sa
23:19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doesn't
David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the
hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?
1Sa
23:20 Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire
of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up
into the king's hand.
1Sa
23:21 Saul said, You are blessed by Yahweh; for you have had
compassion on me.
1Sa
23:22 Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where
his haunt is, and
who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtly.
1Sa
23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places
where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I
will go with you: and it shall happen, if he is in the land, that I
will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.
1Sa
23:24 They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his
men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the
desert.
1Sa
23:25 Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told, he
went down to the rock, and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When
Saul heard that,
he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
1Sa
23:26 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 surrounded David and his men to
take them.
1Sa
23:27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come;
for the Philistines have made a raid on the land!"
1Sa
23:28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against
the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth.
1Sa
23:29 David went up from there, and lived in the strongholds of En
Gedi.
1Sa
24:1 It happened, when Saul was returned from following the
Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the
wilderness of En Gedi.
1Sa
24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and
went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats.
1Sa
24:3 He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave;
and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were
abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
1Sa
24:4 The men of David said to him, Behold, the day of which Yahweh
said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and
you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you. Then David arose,
and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.
1Sa
24:5 It happened afterward, that David's heart struck him, because
he had cut off Saul's skirt.
1Sa
24:6 He said to his men, Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing
to my lord, Yahweh's anointed, to put forth my hand against him,
seeing he is Yahweh's anointed.
1Sa
24:7 So David checked his men with these words, and didn't allow
them to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on
his way.
1Sa
24:8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried
after Saul, saying, My lord the king. When Saul looked behind him,
David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance.
1Sa
24:9 David said to Saul, Why do you listen to men's words, saying,
Behold, David seeks your hurt?
1Sa
24:10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that Yahweh had
delivered you today into my hand in the cave: and some urged me to
kill you; but I spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand
against my lord; for he is Yahweh's anointed.
1Sa
24:11 Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe
in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn't
kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in
my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my
life to take it.
1Sa
24:12 May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me
of you; but my hand shall not be on you.
1Sa
24:13 As the proverb of the ancients says, Out of the wicked comes
forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be on you.
1Sa
24:14 Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you
pursue? A dead dog? A flea?
1Sa
24:15 May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me
and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your
hand.
1Sa
24:16 It came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these
words to Saul, that Saul said, Is this your voice, my son David? Saul
lifted up his voice, and wept.
1Sa
24:17 He said to David, You are more righteous than I; for you have
done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.
1Sa
24:18 You have declared this day how you have dealt well with me,
because when Yahweh had delivered me up into your hand, you didn't
kill me.
1Sa
24:19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away
unharmed? Therefore may Yahweh reward you good for that which you
have done to me this day.
1Sa
24:20 Now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that
the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.
1Sa
24:21 Swear now therefore to me by Yahweh, that you will not cut off
my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my
father's house.
1Sa
24:22 David swore to Saul. Saul went home; but David and his men got
them up to the stronghold.