1 Samuel 23

⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah—nine cities, along with their villages.

¹⁷Next to him, the Levites made repairs under Rehum son of Bani, and next to him, Hashabiah, ruler of a half-district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.

¹⁸Next to him, their countrymen made repairs under Binnui son of Henadad, ruler of the other half-district of Keilah.

¹⁵You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

³³A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.

⁵¹They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.

⁴encamping against them as far as Gaza and destroying the produce of the land. They left Israel with no sustenance, neither sheep nor oxen nor donkeys.

⁴Once 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.”

²³So David inquired of the Lord, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

¹⁹So David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go up,” replied the Lord, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

¹⁴Then the men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not seek the counsel of the Lord.

⁹When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”

¹⁰And 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.

⁶(Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)

¹⁵While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

²⁶Saul 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.

¹For the choirmaster. Of David. In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!

²³Observe 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.”

⁷Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”

⁷you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.

⁶He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

¹⁹So David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go up,” replied the Lord, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

¹⁸This is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.”

²⁰But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David.

³including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the Lord in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.

¹⁸Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (For at that time it was with the Israelites.)

³⁰And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the Lord. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord.

³¹You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth,

³⁶And Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until dawn, leaving no man alive!” “Do what seems good to you,” the troops replied. But the priest said, “We must consult God here.”

³⁷So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.

⁴So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’” Then David crept up and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵Afterward, David’s conscience was stricken because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

⁸Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁰For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,

¹¹saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”

³For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’

⁷Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

⁶(Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)

²¹He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the Lord by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will go out and come in.”

²⁴but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.

¹⁸And the Lord informed me, so I knew. Then You showed me their deeds.

¹⁹For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”

³Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

²⁴What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?

⁸Then Saul summoned all his troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ruin and misery lie in their wake,

¹⁵Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

¹⁹He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.

⁶And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

⁷Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

³Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

²⁰Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.”

¹For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him.

⁸You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.

¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

⁷When 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.”

¹⁴There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

¹⁵Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

¹³And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men strapped on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

²And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

⁹So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind

¹⁰because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.

²⁰In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the Lord show you loving devotion and faithfulness.”

³For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life—men with no regard for God. Selah

⁴Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

⁷You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

³¹What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

³⁰There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the Lord.

³Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!

⁴Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

¹²Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.

¹³Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

³Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.

⁴Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

¹You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

³¹For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”

²⁰Now I know for sure that you will be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands.

¹¹He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.

¹²He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

⁶So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

¹⁷No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

¹⁶When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

⁴²And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.

⁷Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

¹Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”

¹²and Jonathan said, “By the Lord, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?

¹³But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the Lord punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the Lord be with you, just as He has been with my father.

¹Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

³Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon, but David was living in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had followed him there,

¹For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. When the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “Is David not hiding among us?” Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might!

²Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

⁷Then Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Is the son of Jesse giving all of you fields and vineyards and making you commanders of thousands or hundreds?

⁸Is that why all of you have conspired against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made a covenant with the son of Jesse. Not one of you has shown concern for me or revealed to me that my son has stirred up my own servant to lie in wait against me, as is the case today.”

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.

¹²So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” “They will,” said the Lord.

⁶Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose,

⁵So the palace administrator, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you say. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your sight.”

⁶Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.

¹⁰The wicked man will see and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desires of the wicked will perish.

²¹Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.

²³The desire of the righteous leads only to good, but the hope of the wicked brings wrath.

⁸Is that why all of you have conspired against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made a covenant with the son of Jesse. Not one of you has shown concern for me or revealed to me that my son has stirred up my own servant to lie in wait against me, as is the case today.”

²said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord!”

¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord, saying, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

⁵You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the Lord: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”

³For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

¹Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away, and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a covert way to arrest Jesus and kill Him.

²Now Judas His betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples.

³So Judas brought a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. They arrived at the garden carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons.

¹¹Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.

¹²Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. And of all the men with him, not even one will remain.

¹⁰As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.

¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ruin and misery lie in their wake,

²But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

²Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

⁸And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

²⁸So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-hammahlekoth.

⁹from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.

¹¹They have tracked us down, and now surround us; their eyes are set to cast us to the ground,

¹²Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹¹They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.

¹²They swarmed around me like bees, but they were extinguished like burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off.

¹⁴And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”

¹⁶For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.

⁹Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

³The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.

¹⁴And Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

³⁶For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

¹³Once again the Philistines raided the valley.

¹⁶But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.

²Then some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the Sea; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).

⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi—six cities, along with their villages.

¹⁴My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.

¹⁰Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.

⁷Then they turned back to invade En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

¹After Saul had returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.”