Day 34 – David and Saul

₇Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has put him in my power. David has trapped himself by going into a walled town with fortified gates.” ₈So Saul called his troops to war, to march against Keilah and besiege David and his men.

₉When David heard that Saul was planning to attack him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.” ₁₀Then David said, “LORD, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah and destroy it on account of me, your servant. ₁₁Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to Saul? Will Saul really come, as I have heard? LORD, God of Israel, I beg you to answer me!”

The LORD answered, “Saul will come.”

₁₂“And will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul?” David asked again.

“They will,” the LORD answered.

₁₃So David and his men — about 600 in all — left Keilah at once and kept on the move. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up his plan.

₁₄David stayed in hiding in the hill country, in the wilderness near Ziph. Saul was always trying to find him, but God did not hand David over to him. ₁₅David saw that Saul was out to kill him.

David was at Horesh, in the wilderness near Ziph. ₁₆Jonathan went to him there and encouraged him with assurances of God's protection, ₁₇saying to him, “Don't be afraid. My father Saul won't be able to harm you. He knows very well that you are the one who will be the king of Israel and that I will be next in rank to you.” ₁₈The two of them made a sacred promise of friendship to each other. David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

₁₉Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is hiding in our territory at Horesh on Mount Hachilah, in the southern part of the Judean wilderness. ₂₀We know, Your Majesty, how much you want to capture him; so come to our territory, and we will make sure that you catch him.”

₂₁Saul answered, “May the LORD bless you for being so kind to me! ₂₂Go and make sure once more; find out for certain where he is and who has seen him there. I hear that he is very cunning. ₂₃Find out exactly the places where he hides, and be sure to bring back a report to me straight away. Then I will go with you, and if he is still in the region, I will hunt him down, even if I have to search the whole land of Judah.”

₂₄So they left and returned to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in a desolate valley in the southern part of the Judean wilderness. ₂₅Saul and his men set out to look for David, but he heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this, he went after David. ₂₆Saul and his men were on one side of the hill, separated from David and his men, who were on the other side. They were hurrying to get away from Saul and his men, who were closing in on them and were about to capture them. ₂₇Just then a messenger arrived and said to Saul, “Come back at once! The Philistines are invading the country!” ₂₈So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. That is why that place is called Separation Hill. ₂₉David left and went to the region of Engedi, where he stayed in hiding.

₁When Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David was in the wilderness near Engedi. ₂Saul took 3,000 of the best soldiers in Israel and went looking for David and his men east of Wild Goat Rocks. ₃He came to a cave close to some sheep pens by the road and went in to relieve himself. It happened to be the very cave in which David and his men were hiding far back in the cave. ₄They said to him, “This is your chance! The LORD has told you that he would put your enemy in your power and you could do to him whatever you wanted to.” David crept over and cut off a piece of Saul's robe without Saul's knowing it. ₅But then David's conscience began to trouble him, ₆and he said to his men, “May the LORD keep me from doing any harm to my master, whom the LORD chose as king! I must not harm him in the least, because he is the king chosen by the LORD!” ₇So David convinced his men that they should not attack Saul.

Saul got up, left the cave, and started on his way. ₈Then David went out after him and called to him, “Your Majesty!” Saul turned round, and David bowed down to the ground in respect ₉and said, “Why do you listen to people who say that I am trying to harm you? ₁₀You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the LORD put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the LORD chose to be king. ₁₁Look, my father, look at the piece of your robe I am holding! I could have killed you, but instead I only cut this off. This should convince you that I have no thought of rebelling against you or of harming you. You are hunting me down to kill me, even though I have not done you any wrong. ₁₂May the LORD judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least. ₁₃You know the old saying, ‘Evil is done only by evil people.’ And so I will not harm you. ₁₄Look at what the king of Israel is trying to kill! Look at what he is chasing! A dead dog, a flea! ₁₅The LORD will judge, and he will decide which one of us is wrong. May he look into the matter, defend me, and save me from you.”

₁₆When David had finished speaking, Saul said, “Is that really you, David my son?” And he started crying. ₁₇Then he said to David, “You are right, and I am wrong. You have been so good to me, while I have done such wrong to you! ₁₈Today you have shown how good you are to me, because you did not kill me, even though the LORD put me in your power. ₁₉How often does a man catch his enemy and then let him get away unharmed? The LORD bless you for what you have done to me today! ₂₀Now I am sure that you will be king of Israel and that the kingdom will continue under your rule. ₂₁But promise me in the LORD's name that you will spare my descendants, so that my name and my family's name will not be completely forgotten.” ₂₂David promised that he would.

Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went back to their hiding place.