David relieveth Ceila, besieged by the Philistines. He fleeth into the
desert of Ziph. Jonathan and he confirm their former covenant. The
Ziphites discover him to Saul, who pursuing close after him, is called
away by an invasion from the Philistines.
23:1. And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines fight against
Ceila, and they rob the barns.
23:2. Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go and smite
these Philistines? And the Lord said to David: Go, and thou shalt smite
the Philistines, and shalt save Ceila.
23:3. And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold we are in
fear here in Judea, how much more if we go to Ceila against the bands
of the Philistines?
23:4. Therefore David consulted the Lord again. And he answered and
said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I will deliver the Philistines
into thy hand.
23:5. David, therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and fought against
the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great
slaughter of them: and David saved the inhabitants of Ceila.
23:6. Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of Achimelech, fled to
David, to Ceila, he came down, having an ephod with him.
An ephod.... Or the ephod. That is, the vestment of the high priest,
with the urim and thummim, by which the Lord gave his oracle.
23:7. And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and Saul said:
The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and he is shut up, being
come into a city that hath gates and bars.
23:8. And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight against
Ceila, and to besiege David and his men.
23:9. Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared evil
against him, he said to Abiathar, the priest: Bring hither the ephod.
23:10. And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard a
report, that Saul designeth to come to Ceila, to destroy the city for
my sake:
23:11. Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and will Saul
come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy
servant. And the Lord said: He will come down.
23:12. And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me and my men into
the hands of Saul? And the Lord said: They will deliver thee up.
23:13. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose, and
departing from Ceila, wandered up and down, uncertain where they should
stay: and it was told Saul that David was fled from Ceila, and had
escaped: wherefore he forbore to go out.
23:14. But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained
in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And Saul sought
him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands.
23:15. And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David
was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood.
23:16. And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose, and went to David, into
the wood, and strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him:
23:17. Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not find thee,
and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; yea and
my father knoweth this.
23:18. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in
the wood: but Jonathan returned to his house.
23:19. And the Ziphites went up to Saul, in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not
David lie hid with us in the strong holds of the wood, in mount
Hachila, which is on the right hand of the desert.
23:20. Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down:
and it shall be our business to deliver him into the king’s hands.
23:21. And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my
case.
23:22. Go, therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously
inquire, and consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen
him there: for he thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him.
23:23. Consider, and see all his lurking holes, wherein he is hid, and
return to me with the certainty of the thing, that I may go with you.
And if he should even go down into the earth to hide himself, I will
search him out in all the thousands of Juda.
23:24. And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: and David and his
men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain at the right hand of
Jesimon.
23:25. Then Saul and his men went to seek him: and it was told David,
and forthwith he went down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of
Maon: and when Saul had heard of it, he pursued after David in the
wilderness of Maon.
23:26. And Saul went on this side of the mountain: and David and his
men were on the other side of the mountain: and David despaired of
being able to escape from the face of Saul: and Saul and his men
encompassed David and his men round about, to take them.
23:27. And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to come, for
the Philistines have poured in themselves upon the land.
23:28. Wherefore Saul returned, leaving the pursuit of David, and went
to meet the Philistines. For this cause they called that place the rock
of division.