1 Samuel Chapter 23
Showing all 29 verses for 1 Samuel Chapter 23.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors. "
"David was told, 'Look, the Philistines are attacking Keilah and looting the threshing floors.'"
Even while hunted himself, David keeps his heart open to Keilah's suffering rather than withdrawing into pure self-protection. Personal hardship is never an excuse to become indifferent to the needs of others; watch for who around you is suffering, even in your own difficult season.
"Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. "
"So David asked the LORD, 'Should I go and attack these Philistines?' And the LORD told David, 'Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.'"
Before acting, even on something that seems obviously right, David stops to ask God's will rather than trusting his own judgement or wounded ambition. Jesus modelled this same dependence on the Father before every action; prayerful submission, not mere confidence, should govern our decisions.
"And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? "
"But David's men said to him, 'We're already afraid just staying here in Judah - how much worse would it be to go fight the Philistine armies at Keilah?'"
David's men voice their fear openly rather than pretending false courage, and that honesty is not treated as weakness or faithlessness. There is room in real faith to name fear out loud among friends; what matters is what you do next in trust, not whether you ever felt afraid.
"Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. "
"So David asked the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, 'Get up, go down to Keilah, because I'm going to hand the Philistines over to you.'"
God patiently answers David's second request for reassurance, asked for his frightened men's sake, without rebuking him for seeking confirmation. It is right to bring our own doubts, and the doubts of those depending on us, honestly back to God rather than proceeding on presumption alone.
"So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. "
"So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines, drove off their livestock, and defeated them decisively. David rescued the people of Keilah."
David risks his fugitive life to save a town that will soon betray him to Saul - true leadership uses strength to protect others, not to serve one's own advancement, regardless of whether gratitude ever follows. Jesus teaches that greatness is measured by service rendered, even to the ungrateful.
"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. "
"(It was when Abiathar son of Ahimelech had fled to David at Keilah that he brought the priestly ephod with him.)"
Out of the tragedy at Nob, the ephod arrives providentially in David's hands at exactly the moment it is most needed for guidance. Even our losses can be woven by God into future provision - nothing that reaches us, even through suffering, is outside his care.
"And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. "
"Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, 'God has handed him over to me - he's trapped himself by going into a town with gates and bars.'"
Saul mistakes David's circumstance for divine endorsement of his own murderous desire - a warning against baptising our ambitions with God's name simply because things seem to be going our way. True discernment tests whether an impulse fits the character of mercy and love, not merely whether it looks convenient.
"And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. "
"So Saul summoned all his troops for battle, ready to march down to Keilah and lay siege to David and his men."
Saul mobilises the entire nation's army to destroy one man, showing how obsession with a perceived rival can consume a leader's whole attention and resources at the cost of the people he is meant to serve. Jesus warns against letting envy or hatred of one person become the organising passion of a life.
"And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. "
"David learned that Saul was secretly plotting against him, so he said to Abiathar the priest, 'Bring the ephod here.'"
When David senses danger, his first move is not panic or speculation but prayerful inquiry through the ephod. This models turning immediately to God when trouble is sensed, rather than trusting our own reading of a threatening situation.
"Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. "
"Then David said, 'LORD, God of Israel, your servant has definitely heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me.'"
David's prayer names the exact, uncomfortable facts - that a whole city may be destroyed for his sake - rather than hiding behind vague, safe words. Real prayer brings the concrete truth of our situation directly before God instead of a polished version of it.
"Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down. "
"'Will the men of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul actually come down here, as I've heard? LORD, God of Israel, please tell your servant.' And the LORD said, 'He will come down.'"
God's answer here is not comforting, yet David asks for the truth anyway rather than the answer he would prefer. Real faith wants reality, even hard reality, over comfortable illusion, because only truth can guide right action.
"Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up. "
"David asked again, 'Will the people of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?' And the LORD said, 'They will hand you over.'"
The very people David risked his life to save would hand him over to Saul - a hard truth about human ingratitude that David faces without recorded bitterness, only wise withdrawal. Jesus too was betrayed by many he came to save; love does not demand gratitude as the price of doing good.
"Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. "
"So David and his men, about six hundred of them by now, left Keilah and moved on, going wherever they could. When Saul heard David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition."
When God reveals the truth of an unsafe situation, David's wisdom moves him to leave rather than stay and prove a point out of stubbornness. There is no shame in retreat when it flows from discernment rather than mere fear.
"And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. "
"David stayed in wilderness strongholds, camping in the hill country of the Ziph desert. Saul kept searching for him every day, but God never handed David over to him."
Saul sought David every day, yet God delivered him not into his hand - safety here came not from the absence of danger but from God's constant, often unseen, preservation within it. Faith endures a not-yet rescue by trusting God's presence inside ongoing difficulty, not only at its resolution.
"And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood. "
"David realised Saul had come out looking to kill him, and at the time David was in a wood in the wilderness of Ziph."
Knowing clearly that someone seeks your harm is a heavy burden, yet David responds by continuing to seek refuge and pray, not with pre-emptive violence or despair. We are not called to naivety about real danger, but we are called away from letting fear of an enemy dictate cruelty in return.
"And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. "
"Jonathan, Saul's son, got up and went to find David in the wood, and helped him find strength and courage in God."
Jonathan does not merely offer sympathy or an escape plan; he points David back to God, strengthening his hand in the LORD. The truest friendship builds someone's faith within their circumstances rather than only trying to fix the circumstances themselves.
"And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. "
"He said to David, 'Don't be afraid - my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You're going to be king over Israel, and I'll be right beside you as second-in-command. Even my father knows this is true.'"
Jonathan sets aside his own claim to the throne with complete grace, rejoicing in God's chosen plan for David rather than clinging to his own entitlement. This is self-emptying love - genuinely celebrating someone else's calling even when it costs you your own crown.
"And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. "
"The two of them made a solemn agreement before the LORD. Then David stayed in the wood, and Jonathan went back home."
Jonathan and David seal their friendship with a sacred covenant before the LORD even though circumstances will soon separate them physically. Some bonds are sealed not by convenience or constant presence but by commitment made before God, which endures beyond distance.
"Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? "
"The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, 'Isn't David hiding among us in the strongholds in the wood, on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon?'"
The Ziphites offer up their fellow Israelite's hiding place to curry favour with a violent king, a sober reminder that not everyone near us shares our loyalties, and that kindness is sometimes met with self-interested betrayal. This should not breed cynicism, but it should temper naive trust in every voice around us.
"Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand. "
"'So now, your majesty, come down whenever you're ready - it's our job to hand him over to you.'"
The Ziphites eagerly volunteer to hand an innocent man over to death simply to gain the king's favour - a warning about how love of approval can corrupt a whole community's conscience. Examine what you are willing to do, or to whom you are willing to be cruel, in exchange for someone's good opinion of you.
"And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me. "
"Saul replied, 'May the LORD bless you, because you've had compassion on me.'"
Saul calls betrayal and bloodlust compassion, showing how deeply self-deception distorts our moral language when we are consumed by fear and hatred. Examine what you call kindness or help - is it truly loving, or self-serving dressed in pious words?
"Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly. "
"'Go and make sure - find out exactly where he's been and who's seen him there, because I've heard he's very cunning.'"
Even Saul must acknowledge David's cleverness while hunting him to death - a reminder that our enemies can sometimes see gifts in us that we should recognise and steward wisely, not with pride. David's resourcefulness in evading harm honours the same prudence Jesus later commends in his own followers.
"See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again 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 Judah. "
"'Find out and map every single hiding place he might use, then come back to me with certainty, and I'll go with you myself. If he's anywhere in the land, I'll track him down through every clan in Judah.'"
Saul's obsession has grown so total that he will personally lead a manhunt through the entire territory of Judah for one man, a picture of how unchecked hatred can consume all a person's energy and resources. Jesus calls us to release grudges before they metastasize into this kind of all-consuming pursuit.
"And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. "
"So the Ziphites went ahead of Saul back to Ziph. Meanwhile David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain south of Jeshimon."
David keeps moving, keeps seeking refuge, never presuming permanent safety in any one place - a picture of continual, humble dependence on God's provision rather than settled self-reliance. Faith often looks like faithful movement, trusting God step by step, rather than demanding a final resting place before trusting him.
"Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. "
"Saul and his men went to search for him. David was told, so he went down to a rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard this, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon."
Even a rocky, uncomfortable refuge is shelter enough when it comes from God - faith does not always mean escape from pursuit but strength to endure it wherever we are placed. God's people are not promised comfort in every trial, only sufficient protection.
"And Saul went on this 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 Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. "
"Saul went along one side of the mountain, David and his men along the other side. David was hurrying to escape Saul, because Saul and his men were closing in to surround them."
This is the moment of nearest peril in David's flight, and his fear is honestly named - David made haste to get away for fear of Saul - without shame attached to it. Courage is not the absence of fear but continuing to act faithfully within it, even when trouble seems to have you surrounded on every side.
"But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land. "
"But a messenger arrived and told Saul, 'Come quickly - the Philistines have invaded the land!'"
At the very moment of greatest danger, God's providence intervenes through a completely unrelated event - a Philistine invasion becomes the means of David's rescue. Trust that God's timing and methods of deliverance are often invisible to us until the very last possible moment.
"Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth. "
"So Saul stopped chasing David and went to fight the Philistines instead. That's why the place was named Selahammahlekoth."
What could have ended in tragedy instead becomes a permanent landmark of God's deliverance, named and remembered. Mark and give thanks for the moments of narrow escape in your own life as testimonies of faithfulness, not just relief to move past quickly.
"And David went up from thence, and in strong holds at Engedi. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"From there David went up and settled in the strongholds of Engedi."
After each narrow escape, David does not grow reckless but continues seeking secure refuge - persistent, humble caution honours the deliverance God has just given rather than presuming on it. Wisdom keeps seeking safe shelter even after God has proven faithful, rather than testing him needlessly.