Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 137
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S am u el – K I N G S
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the ephod and ask the Lord what he should do. Then Dav id prayed,
“O Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and
destroy Keilah because I am here. Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to
him? And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O Lord, God of Israel,
please tell me.”
And the Lord said, “He will come.”
Again David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men
to Saul?”
And the Lord replied, “Yes, they will betray you.”
So David and his men—about 600 of them now—left Keilah and began
roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped,
so he didn’t go to Keilah after all.
Dav id now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill
country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul
find him.
One day near Horesh, Dav id received the news that Saul was on the
way to Ziph to search for him and kill him. Jonathan went to find David
and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. “Don’t be afraid,”
Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to
be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well
aware.” So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord.
Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.
But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to
him. “We know where David is hiding,” they said. “He is in the strongholds
of Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which is in the southern part of Jeshimon.
Come down whenever you’re ready, O king, and we will catch him and
hand him over to you!”
“The Lord bless you,” Saul said. “At last someone is concerned about
me! Go and check again to be sure of where he is staying and who has seen
him there, for I know that he is very crafty. Discover his hiding places, and
come back when you are sure. Then I’ll go with you. And if he is in the
area at all, I’ll track him down, even if I have to search every hiding place
in Judah!” So the men of Ziph returned home ahead of Saul.
Meanwhile, David and his men had moved into the wilderness of Maon
in the Arabah Valley south of Jeshimon. When David heard that Saul and
his men were searching for him, he went even farther into the wilderness
to the great rock, and he remained there in the wilderness of Maon. But
Saul kept after him in the wilderness.
Saul and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain. Just as Saul