6When Saul heard that David and the men with him had been located—Saul was then in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree on the height, spear in hand, with all his courtiers in attendance upon him—7Saul said to the courtiers standing about him, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jessec give fields and vineyards to every one of you? And will he make all of you captains of thousands or captains of hundreds? 8Is that why all of you have conspired against me? For no one informs me when my own son makes a pact with the son of Jesse; no one is concernedd for me and no one informs me when my own son has set my servant e-in ambush-e against me, as is now the case.”
9Doeg the Edomite, who was standing among the courtiers of Saul, spoke up: “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 10He inquired of the LORD on his behalf and gave him provisions; he also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” 11Thereupon the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and for all the priests belonging to his father’s house at Nob. They all came to the king, 12and Saul said, “Listen to me, sonc of Ahitub.” “Yes, my lord,” he replied. 13And Saul said to him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me? You gave him food and a sword, and inquired of God for him—that he may rise e-in ambush-e against me, as is now the case.”
14Ahimelech replied to the king, “But who is there among all your courtiers as trusted as David, son-in-law of Your Majesty and f-obedient to your bidding,-f and esteemed in your household? 15This is the first time that I inquired of God for him; g-I have done no wrong.-g Let not Your Majesty find fault with his servant [or] with any of my father’s house; for your servant knew nothing whatever about all this.” 16But the king said, “You shall die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” 17And the king commanded the guards standing by, “Turn about and kill the priests of the LORD, for they are in league with David; they knew he was running away and they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants would not raise a hand to strike down the priests of the LORD. 18Thereupon the king said to Doeg, “You, Doeg, go and strike down the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite went and struck down the priests himself; that day, he killed eighty-five men h-who wore the linen ephod.-h 19He put Nob, the town of the priests, to the sword: men and women, children and infants, oxen, asses, and sheep—[all] to the sword.
20But one son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped—his name was Abiathar—and he fled to David. 21When Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD, 22David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would tell Saul. I i-am to blame for all the deaths-i in your father’s house. 23Stay with me; do not be afraid; for i-whoever seeks your life must seek my life also.-i It will be my care to guard you.”
23 David was told: “The Philistines are raiding Keilah and plundering the threshing floors.” 2David consulted the LORD, “Shall I go and attack those Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go; attack the Philis-tines and you will save Keilah.” 3But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah, how much more if we go to Keilah against the forces of the Philistines!” 4So David consulted the LORD again, and the LORD answered him, “March down at once to Keilah, for I am going to deliver the Philistines into your hands.” 5David and his men went to Keilah and fought against the Philistines; he drove off their cattle and inflicted a severe defeat on them. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6When Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, a-he brought down an ephod with him.-a
7Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, and Saul thought, “God has delivereda him into my hands, for he has shut himself in by entering a town with gates and bars.” 8Saul summoned all the troops for war, to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. 9When David learned that Saul was planninga to harm him, he told the priest Abiathar to bring the ephod forward. 10And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me. 11Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me into his hands? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, tell Your servant!” And the LORD said, “He will.” 12David continued, “Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me and my men into Saul’s hands?” And the LORD answered, “They will.” 13So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah at once and moved about wher-ever they could. And when Saul was told that David had got away from Keilah, he did not set out.
14David was staying a-in the strongholds of the wilderness [of Judah];-a he stayed in the hill country, in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him constantly, but God did not deliver him into his hands. 15David was once at Horesh in the wilderness of Ziph, when David learned that Saul had come out to seek his life. 16And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David at Horesh and encouraged him in [the name of] God. 17He said to him, “Do not be afraid: the hand of my father Saul will never touch you. You are going to be king over Israel and I shall be second to you; and even my father Saul knows this is so.” 18And the two of them entered into a pact before the LORD. David remained in Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
19bSome Ziphites went up to Saul in Gibeah and said, “David is hiding among us in the strongholds of Horesh, at the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon. 20So if Your Majesty has the desire to come down, come down, and it will be our task to deliver him into Your Majesty’s hands.” 21And Saul replied, “May you be blessed of the LORD for the compassion you have shown me! 22Go now and prepare further. Look around and learn what places he sets foot on [and] who has seen him there, for I have been told he is a very cunning fellow. 23Look around and learn in which of all his hiding places he has been hiding, and return to me when you are certain. I will then go with you, and if he is in the region, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.”
24They left at once for Ziph, ahead of Saul; David and his men were then in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon. 25When Saul and his men came to search, David was told about it; and he went down to a-the rocky region-a and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. On hearing this, Saul pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. 26Saul was making his way along one side of a hill, and David and his men were on the other side of the hill. a-David was trying hard to elude Saul, and Saul and his men were trying to encircle David and his men and capture them,-a 27when a messenger came and told Saul, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have invaded the land.” 28Saul gave up his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place came to be called the Rock of Separation.a
24 David went from there and stayed in the wildernesses of En-gedi. 2When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told that David was in the wilderness of En-gedi. 3So Saul took three thousand picked men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men a-in the direction of the rocks of the wild goats;-a 4and he came to the sheepfolds along the way. There was a cave there, and Saul went in b-to relieve himself.-b Now David and his men were sitting in the back of the cave.
5David’s men said to him, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘I will deliver your enemy into your hands; you can do with him as you please.’ ” cDavid went and stealthily cut off the corner of Saul’s cloak. 6 But afterward d-David reproached himself-d for cutting off e-the corner of Saul’s cloak.-e 7He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my lord—the LORD’s anointed—that I should raise my hand against him; for he is the LORD’s anointed.” 8David rebukedahis men and did not permit them to attack Saul.
Saul left the cave and started on his way. 9Then David also went out of the cave and called after Saul, “My lord king!” Saul looked around and David bowed low in homage, with his face to the ground. 10And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say, ‘David is out to do you harm?’ 11You can see for yourself now that the LORD delivered you into my hands in the
