1 Now they told David, "Look, [the] Philistines [are] fighting in Keilah and they [are] raiding the threshing floors."
2 So David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And Yahweh said to David, "Go and attack 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 to the battle lines of [the] Philistines?"
4 So David again inquired of Yahweh, and Yahweh answered him and said, "Get up, go down [to] Keilah, for I [am] giving [the] Philistines into your hand.
5 So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with [the] Philistines. They drove off their livestock and {dealt them a heavy blow}. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 {Now when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled} to David [at] Keilah, he went down [with] an ephod in his hand.
7 When it was told to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, Saul said, "God {has given him} into my hand, because he has shut himself in by going into a city [with] {two barred gates}.
8 Saul then summoned all of the army for the battle, to go down [to] Keilah to lay a siege against David and his men.
9 When David learned that Saul [was] plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here."
10 And David said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul [is] seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.
11 Will the rulers of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Yahweh, God of Israel, please tell your servant!" And Yahweh said, "He will come down."
12 Then David said, "Will the rulers of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And Yahweh said, "They will deliver [you]."
13 So David and his men got up, about six hundred men, and went out from Keilah and wandered wherever they could go. When it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, {he stopped his pursuit}.
14 David remained in the wilderness, in the strongholds, and in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him {continually}, but God did not give him into his hand
15 When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
16 So Jonathan the son of Saul got up and went to David [at] Horesh, and {encouraged him} through God.
17 He said to him, "Do not be afraid, for the hand of my father Saul will not find you. You will be king over Israel, and {I will be second to you}. My father Saul knows [this] also."
18 Then the two of them {made} a covenant before Yahweh. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went to his house.
19 Then [the] Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "[Is] not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which [is] south of Jeshimon
20 So then, O king, {whenever you want} to come down, come down, and [it will be] for us to deliver him into the hand of the king."
21 And Saul said to them, "May you be blessed by Yahweh, for you have shown me compassion
22 Go, please, make certain again! Find out and see {exactly where he is} and who has seen him there! For they have said to me, 'He [is] very cunning.'
23 Look, find out all of the hiding places where he hides. Then return to me {with dependable information}, and I will go with you. And then if he [is] there in the land, then I will seek him among all the thousands of Judah."
24 Then they got up and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon.
25 And Saul and his men went to seek [him], and they told David, so he went down [to] the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard [this], he pursued David [into] the wilderness of Maon.
26 Saul went {on one side of the mountain}, and David and his men {went on the other side of the mountain}. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men [were] closing in on David and his men to capture them.
27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, because [the] Philistines have made a raid on the land!"
28 So Saul returned from pursuing David, and he went to confront [the] Philistines. Therefore, they called that place the Rock of Division.
29 David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of En Gedi.