Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 Samuel 23
⁴ So David asked the LORD again, and again the LORD replied, “Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.”
⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah. They slaughtered the Philistines and took all their livestock and rescued the people of Keilah.
⁶ Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he brought the ephod with him.
⁷ Saul soon learned that David was at Keilah. “Good!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got him now! God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself in a walled town!”
⁸ So Saul mobilized his entire army to march to Keilah and besiege David and his men.
⁹ But David learned of Saul’s plan and told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and ask the LORD what he should do.
¹⁰ Then David prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here.
¹¹ Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him? And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell me.” And the LORD said, “He will come.”
¹² Again David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?” And the LORD replied, “Yes, they will betray you.”
¹³ So David and his men—about 600 of them now—left Keilah and began roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped, so he didn’t go to Keilah after all.
¹⁴ David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him.