HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 636
1 S A MU EL 2 4
page 266
he is very crafty. 23 Discover his hiding places,
and come back when you are sure. Then I’ll go
with you. And if he is in the area at all, I’ll track
him down, even if I have to search every hiding
place in Judah!” 24 So the men of Ziph returned
home ahead of Saul.
Meanwhile, David and his men had moved
into the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah
Valley south of Jeshimon. 25 When David heard
that Saul 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 Maon. But Saul kept after him in the
wilderness.
26 Saul and David were now on opposite sides
of a mountain. Just as Saul and his men began
to close in on David and his men, 27 an urgent
message reached Saul that the Philistines were
raiding Israel again. 28 So Saul quit chasing David and returned to fight the Philistines. Ever
since that time, the place where David was
camped has been called the Rock of Escape.*
29*David then went to live in the strongholds of
En-gedi.
4 So David asked the Lord again, and again
the Lord replied, “Go down to Keilah, for I will
help you conquer the Philistines.”
5 So David and his men went to Keilah. They
slaughtered the Philistines and took all their
livestock and rescued the people of Keilah.
6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to
David at Keilah, he brought the ephod with him.
7 Saul soon learned that David was at Keilah.
“Good!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got him now!
God has handed him over to me, for he has
trapped himself in a walled town!” 8 So Saul
mobilized his entire army to march to Keilah
and besiege David and his men.
9 But David learned of Saul’s plan and told
Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and
ask the Lord what he should do. 10 Then David
prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, I have heard
that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. 11 Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him?* And will Saul actually
come as I have heard? O Lord, God of Israel,
please tell me.”
And the Lord said, “He will come.”
12 Again David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?”
And the Lord replied, “Yes, they will betray
you.”
24
David Hides in the Wilderness
13 So David and his men—about 600 of them
now—left Keilah and began roaming the
countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped, so he didn’t go to Keilah after
all. 14 David now stayed in the strongholds of
the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph.
Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t
let Saul find him.
15 One day near Horesh, David received the
news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search
for him and kill him. 16 Jonathan went to find
David and encouraged him to stay strong in his
faith in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You
are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be
next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.”
18 So the two of them renewed their solemn pact
before the Lord. Then Jonathan returned home,
while David stayed at Horesh.
19 But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to him. “We know where
David is hiding,” they said. “He is in the strongholds of Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which is
in the southern part of Jeshimon. 20 Come down
whenever you’re ready, O king, and we will catch
him and hand him over to you!”
21 “The Lord bless you,” Saul 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
23:11 Some manuscripts lack the first sentence of 23:11.
23:28 Hebrew Sela-hammahlekoth. 23:29 Verse 23:29 is
numbered 24:1 in Hebrew text. 24:1 Verses 24:1-22 are
numbered 24:2-23 in Hebrew text.
David Spares Saul’s Life
1*After Saul returned from fighting the
Philistines, he was told that David had
gone into the wilderness of En-gedi. 2 So Saul
chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went
to search for David and his men near the rocks
of the wild goats.
3 At the place where the road passes some
sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve
himself. But as it happened, David and his men
were hiding farther back in that very cave!
4 “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men
whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you,
‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power,
to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward
and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.
5 But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6 He said
to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do
this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the
Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has
chosen him.” 7 So David restrained his men and
did not let them kill Saul.
After Saul had left the cave and gone on his
way, 8 David came out and shouted after him,
“My lord the king!” And when Saul looked
around, David bowed low before him.
9 Then he shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm
you? 10 This very day you can see with your own
eyes it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my
mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men