1. Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing floors.
2. Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and strike these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David,
3. And David's men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
4. Then David inquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said,
5. So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and struck them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6. And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7. And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars.
8. And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
9. And David knew that Saul secretly plotted evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod.
10. Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
11. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant. And the LORD said,
12. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said,
13. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he decided not to go there.
14. And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in the mountains in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
15. And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a forest.
16. And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the forest, and strengthened his hand in God.
17. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto you; and that also Saul my father knows.
18. And they both made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the forest, and Jonathan went to his house.