I Samuel 23 · שמואל א

Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Pelishtim are fighting against Qe῾ila, and are plundering the threshingfloors.

Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Pelishtim? And the Lord said to David, Go, and smite the Pelishtim, and save Qe῾ila.

And David’s men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Yehuda: how much more then if we come to Qe῾ila against the armies of the Pelishtim?

Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and said, Arise, go down to Qe῾ila; for I will deliver the Pelishtim into thy hand.

So David and his men went to Qe῾ila, and fought with the Pelishtim, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Qe῾ila.

And it came to pass, when Evyatar the son of Aĥimelekh fled to David to Qe῾ila, that he came down with an efod in his hand.

And it was told Sha᾽ul that David was come to Qe῾ila. And Sha᾽ul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering a town that has gates and bars.

And Sha᾽ul called all the people together to war, to go down to Qe῾ila, to besiege David and his men.

And David knew that Sha᾽ul devised that mischief against him; and he said to Evyatar the priest, Bring the efod here.

Then said David, O Lord God of Yisra᾽el, Thy servant has certainly heard that Sha᾽ul seeks to come to Qe῾ila, to destroy the city for my sake.

Will the men of Qe῾ila deliver me up into his hand? will Sha᾽ul come down, as Thy servant has heard? O Lord God of Yisra᾽el, I beseech Thee, tell Thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down.

Then said David, Will the men of Qe῾ila deliver me and my men into the hand of Sha᾽ul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.

Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Qe῾ila, and went wherever they could go. And it was told to Sha᾽ul that David had escaped from Qe῾ila; and he forbore to go after.

And David dwelt in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Zif. And Sha᾽ul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

And David saw that Sha᾽ul had come out to seek his life and David was in the wilderness of Zif in a wood.

And Yehonatan Sha᾽ul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

And he said to him, Fear not: for the hand of Sha᾽ul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Yisra᾽el, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Sha᾽ul my father knows.

And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David dwelt in the wood, and Yehonatan went to his house.

Then came up the Zifim to Sha᾽ul to Giv῾a, saying, Is not David hiding himself with us in strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Ḥakhila, which is on the right hand of the Yeshimon?

Now therefore, O king, come down according to all thy heart’s desire; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.

And Sha᾽ul said, Blessed are you of the Lord; for you have had compassion on me.

Go, I pray you, be more vigilant, and ascertain his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there: for it is told me that he acts with great cunning.

See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come back to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Yehuda.

And they arose, and went to Zif before Sha᾽ul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Ma῾on, in the ῾Arava on the right hand of the Yeshimon.

Then Sha᾽ul and his men went to seek him. And they told David: so that he came down into a rock, and dwelt in the wilderness of Ma῾on. And when Sha᾽ul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Ma῾on.

And Sha᾽ul went on his side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Sha᾽ul; for Sha᾽ul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.

But there came a messenger to Sha᾽ul, saying, Make haste, and come; for the Pelishtim are raiding the land.

Wherefore Sha᾽ul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Pelishtim: therefore they called that place Sela-hammaĥleqot.