¹And they reported to David and said, “Look, the Philistines are fighting in Keilah, and they are plundering the threshing floors.” ²Then David inquired of the Lord and said, “Should I go and strike these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and strike the Philistines and save Keilah.” ³Then David's men said to him, “Look, we here in Judah are afraid, and how much more so if we go to Keilah, to the ranks of the Philistines.” ⁴So David inquired again of the Lord, and the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I am delivering the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵Then David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines, and he carried their cattle away, and he struck a great blow on them. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. ⁶Now it had come to pass when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David in Keilah, that he came down with the ephod in his hand. ⁷And it was reported to Saul that David had arrived in Keilah, and Saul said, “God has consigned him to my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town with gates and a bolt.” ⁸And Saul called all the people up to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. ⁹Now David knew that Saul was devising evil against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰And David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has reliably heard that Saul is attempting to come to Keilah to destroy the city on account of me. ¹¹Will the inhabitants of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, do tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” ¹²Then David said, “Will the inhabitants of Keilah deliver me and my men up into Saul's hand.” And the Lord said, “They will deliver you up.” ¹³So David arose, as did his men – about six hundred men – and they went out of Keilah and wandered around wherever they could wander around. And it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah. So he stopped going out. ¹⁴Meanwhile David stayed in the desert, in strongholds, and he stayed in the mountain in the Desert of Ziph, while Saul sought him all the time, but God did not deliver him into his hand. ¹⁵And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life, while David was in the Desert of Ziph in a wood. ¹⁶And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David, to the wood, and he encouraged him in God. ¹⁷And he said to him, “Do not be afraid, for the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will reign over Israel, and I will be second to you. And Saul my father knows this.” ¹⁸And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord, and David stayed in the wood, but Jonathan went to his home. ¹⁹Then some Ziphites came up to Saul, to Gibeah, and they said, “Isn't David hiding with us in the fortresses in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is to the south of Jeshimon? ²⁰So now, in accordance with all your heart's desire, O king, to come down, do come down, and it will be up to us to deliver him into the king's hand.” ²¹At this Saul said, “Blessed are you to the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. ²²Go now and keep preparing, and find out and observe his whereabouts and where he treks, and who has seen him there, for I have been told that he acts very craftily. ²³So observe and find out about all the hiding places where he hides, and come back to me with confirmation, and I will go with you, and it will come to pass, if he is in the land, that I will seek him among all the thousands of Judah.” ²⁴So they arose and went to Ziph in front of Saul, whereas David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the arid tract to the south of Jeshimon. ²⁵And Saul and his men went to search for him, and it was reported to David, who then went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. And Saul heard of it, and he pursued David in the Desert of Maon. ²⁶And Saul went to one side of the mountain, whereas David and his men were on the other side of the mountain. Then David became alarmed, intending to move away from Saul, while Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men, in order to capture them. ²⁷Then a messenger came to Saul and said, “Hurry and go, for the Philistines have invaded the land.” ²⁸So Saul returned from pursuing David, and he went to confront the Philistines, which is why they call that place Sela-Hammahlekoth. ²⁹Then David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of En-Gedi.