Study Desk

And he said to his young man, "Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot." As the young man was running, he shot an arrow past him.

And Jonathan called after the young man, "Hurry, be quick, do not stay!" And Jonathan's young man gathered up the arrow and came to his master.

Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his young man and said to him, "Go, bring them to the city."

When the young man was gone, David rose from the south side and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, but David wept more.

Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds.

But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying,‘Saul has struck his thousands,And David his ten thousands'?"

So he disguised his sanity in their sight and acted insanely in their hands and scribbled on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down into his beard.

Then Achish said to his servants, "Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me?

So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and his brothers and all his father's household heard of it and went down there to him.

Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.

And Saul said to his servants who were standing around him, "Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king.

Saul then said to him, "Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have asked of God on his behalf, so that he would rise up against me by lying in ambush as it is this day?"

Did I just begin to ask of God on his behalf today? Far be it from me! Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing small or great of this whole affair."

So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

Now it happened when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

Then Saul summoned all the people for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your slave has heard? O Yahweh, the God of Israel, I pray, tell Your slave." And Yahweh said, "He will come down."

Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. Now it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, so he ceased going out in pursuit.

And David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.