1 Samuel · Majority Standard Bible
1 Samuel 23 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Now it was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and looting the threshing floors.”
1 David was told, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors.”
2 So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
2 Therefore David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go and strike these Philistines?” Yahweh said to David, “Go strike the Philistines, and save Keilah.”
3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
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?”
4 Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
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.”
5 Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, and carried off their livestock, striking them with a mighty blow. So David saved the people of Keilah.
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.
6 (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)
6 When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7 When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”
7 Saul was told that David had 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.”
8 Then Saul summoned all his troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.
8 Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
9 When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
9 David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him. He said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
10 And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account.
10 Then David said, “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.
11 Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.” “He will,” said the LORD.
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.”
12 So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” “They will,” said the LORD.
12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” Yahweh said, “They will deliver you up.”
13 Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth.
13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah and went wherever they could go. Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there.
14 And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
14 David stayed 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.
15 While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.
15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the woods.
16 And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,
16 Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David into the woods, and strengthened his hand in God.
17 saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.”
17 He said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for the hand of Saul my father won’t find you; and you will be king over Israel, and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also.”
18 So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.
18 They both made a covenant before Yahweh. Then David stayed in the woods and Jonathan went to his house.
19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?
19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?
20 Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.”
20 Now therefore, O king, come down. According to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.”
21 “May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have had compassion on me.
21 Saul said, “You are blessed by Yahweh, for you have had compassion on me.
22 Please go and prepare further. Investigate and watch carefully where he goes and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning.
22 Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I have been told that he is very cunning.
23 Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.”
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. It shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
24 So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,
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.
25 and Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard of this, he pursued David there.
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 David in the wilderness of Maon.
26 Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.
26 Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David hurried to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them.
27 Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!”
27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land!”
28 So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-hammahlekoth.
28 So Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines. Therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth.
29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.
29 David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Abiathar
The one son of Ahimelech to escape Saul's massacre of the priests at Nob, who fled to David with the ephod and later served as priest alongside Zadok. Solomon later banished him…
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 22:20; 1 Samuel 23:6; 1 Samuel 30:7
David
The shepherd who became Israel's greatest king and a man after God's own heart.
Cited in the guide: 1 Sam. 16 - 1 Kings 2; 2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 2:15; Matt. 1:6
Cross references (25)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Joshua 15:44; Nehemiah 3:17–18; Micah 6:15; Deuteronomy 28:33; Deuteronomy 28:51
- 2 1 Samuel 23:4; 2 Samuel 5:23; 2 Samuel 5:19; Joshua 9:14; 1 Samuel 23:9–12
- 3 1 Samuel 23:15; Jeremiah 12:5; 1 Samuel 23:26; Psalm 11:1; 1 Samuel 23:23
- 4 Judges 7:7; Joshua 8:7; 1 Samuel 28:6; 2 Samuel 5:19; 2 Kings 3:18
- 6 1 Samuel 22:20; 1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Samuel 14:18; Exodus 28:30–31; 1 Samuel 14:36–37
- 7 1 Samuel 24:4–6; Job 20:5; 1 Samuel 26:8–9; 1 Samuel 23:14; Psalm 71:10–11
- 9 1 Samuel 30:7; 1 Samuel 23:6; Numbers 27:21; Acts 9:24; Jeremiah 11:18–19
- 10 Genesis 18:24; 1 Samuel 23:8; Romans 3:15–16; Proverbs 28:15; 1 Samuel 22:19
- 11 Psalm 50:15; Matthew 7:7–8; Jeremiah 33:3
- 12 1 Samuel 23:20; Psalm 62:1; Psalm 31:8; Hebrews 4:13; 1 Samuel 23:7
- 13 1 Samuel 25:13; 1 Samuel 22:2; 1 Samuel 30:9–10; 2 Samuel 15:20
- 14 Psalm 54:3–4; Psalm 32:7; Joshua 15:55; Joshua 15:24; Romans 8:31
- 16 Isaiah 35:3–4; Hebrews 12:12–13; Job 4:3–4; 2 Timothy 2:1; Ephesians 6:10
- 17 1 Samuel 20:31; 1 Samuel 24:20; Job 5:11–15; Hebrews 13:6; Isaiah 54:17
- 18 1 Samuel 20:42; 2 Samuel 21:7; 1 Samuel 18:3; 2 Samuel 9:1; 1 Samuel 20:12–17
- 19 1 Samuel 26:1; 1 Samuel 26:3; Psalm 54:1–7; 1 Samuel 22:7–8; Proverbs 29:12
- 20 1 Samuel 23:12; Deuteronomy 18:6; 2 Kings 10:5–7; Psalm 112:10; 2 Samuel 3:21
- 21 1 Samuel 22:8; Judges 17:2; Micah 3:11; Isaiah 66:5; Psalm 10:3
- 22 Job 5:13
- 23 Mark 14:1; John 18:2–3; 2 Samuel 17:11–13; 1 Kings 18:10; Romans 3:15–16
- 24 1 Samuel 25:2; Joshua 15:55
- 25 Judges 15:8; 1 Samuel 23:28
- 26 Psalm 17:9; Psalm 17:11; Psalm 22:12; Psalm 118:11–13; 2 Samuel 15:14
- 27 2 Kings 19:9; Psalm 116:3; Genesis 22:14; Deuteronomy 32:36; 1 Chronicles 14:13
- 29 2 Chronicles 20:2; Joshua 15:62; Song of Songs 1:14; Ezekiel 47:10; Genesis 14:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences