1Samuel:23

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* And it was told David , saying , behold , the Philistines war in Keila , and they rob , they trample on the threshing-floors . * And David enquired of the Lord , saying , Shall I go and smite these Philistines ? And the Lord said , Go , and thou shalt smite these Philistines , and shalt save Keila . * And the men of David said to him , Behold , we are afraid here in Judea ; and how shall it be if we go to Keila ? Shall we go after the spoils of the Philistines ? * And David enquired yet again of the Lord ; and the Lord answered him , and said to him , Arise and go down to Keila , for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hands . * So David and his men with him went to Keila , and fought with the Philistines ; and they fled from before him , and he carried off their cattle , and smote them with a great slaughter , and David rescued the inhabitants of Keila . * eAnd it came to pass when Abiathar the son of Achimelech fled to David , that he went down with David to Keila , having an ephod in his hand . * And it was told Saul that David was come to Keila : and Saul said , God has sold him into my hands , for he is shut up , having entered into a city that has gates and bars . * And Saul charged all the people to go down to war to Keila , to besiege David and his men . * And David knew that Saul (note :)Gr . is not silent concerning (:note ) spoke openly of mischief against him : and David said to Abiathar the priest , Bring the ephod of the Lord . * And David said , Lord God of Israel , thy servant has indeed heard , that Saul seeks to come against Keila to destroy the city on my account . * Will the place be (note :)i . e ., besieged (:note ) shut up ? And now will Saul come down , as thy servant has heard ? Lord God of Israel , tell thy servant . Verse 12 is here supplied by Alex . And the Lord said , It will be shut up . * * And David arose , and the men with him , in number about four hundred , and they went forth from Keila , and went whithersoever they could go : and it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keila , and he forbore to come . * And he dwelt in Maserem in the wilderness , in the narrow passes ; and dwelt in the wilderness in mount Ziph , in the dry country . And Saul sought him continually , but the Lord delivered him not into his hands . * And David perceived that Saul went forth to seek David ; and David was in the dry mountain in the (note :)The Hebrew vrx has here been read as if vdx (:note ) New Ziph . * And Jonathan son of Saul rose , and went to David to Caene , and strengthened his hands in the Lord . * And he said to him , Fear not , for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee ; and thou shalt be king over Israel , and I shall be second to thee ; and Saul my father knows it . * So they both made a covenant before the Lord ; and David dwelt in Caene , and Jonathan went to his home . * And the Ziphites came up out of the dry country to Saul to the hill , saying , Behold , is not David hidden with us in Messara , in the narrows in Caene in the hill of Echela , which is on the right of Jessaemon ? * And now according to all the king ’s desire to come down , let him come down to us ; they have shut him up into the hands of the king . * And Saul said to them , Blessed be ye of the Lord , for ye have been grieved on my account . * Go , I pray you , and make preparations yet , and notice his place where his foot shall be , quickly , in that place which ye spoke of , lest by any means he should deal craftily . * Take notice , then , and learn , and I will go with you ; and it shall come to pass that if he is in the land , I will search him out among all the thousands of Juda . * And the Ziphites arose , and went before Saul : and David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon , westward , to the right of Jessaemon . * And Saul and his men went to seek him : and they brought word to David , and he went down to the rock that was in the wilderness of Maon : and Saul heard , and followed after David to the wilderness of Maon . * And Saul and his men go on one side of the mountain , and David and his men are on the other side of the mountain : and David was hiding himself to escape from Saul : and Saul and his men encamped against David and his men , in order to take them . * And there came a messenger to Saul , saying , Haste thee , and come hither , for the Philistines have invaded the land . * So Saul returned from following after David , and went to meet the Philistines : therefore that place was called The divided Rock .

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