1Sa 9, 1Sa 23 | ESV | STEP | There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish , the son of Abiel , son of Zeror , son of Becorath , son of Aphiah , a Benjaminite , a man of wealth .

1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^aKish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, ^ba handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. ^cFrom his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, “Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” 4 And he passed through ^dthe hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^eShalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.

5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant ^{▼▼Hebrew young man; also verses 7, 8, 10, 27} who was with him, “Come, let us go back, ^glest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” 6 But he said to him, “Behold, there is ^ha man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; ⁱall that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” 7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, ^jwhat can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 8 The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” 9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man ^lwent to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today’s “prophet” was formerly called a seer.) 10 And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.

11 As they went up the hill to the city, ^mthey met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 12 They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people ⁿhave a sacrifice today on ^othe high place. 13 As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” 14 So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

15 Now the day before Saul came, ^pthe Lord had ^qrevealed to Samuel: 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, ^rand you shall anoint him to be prince ^{▼▼Or leader} over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. ^tFor I have seen ^{▼▼Septuagint adds the affliction of} my people, because their cry has come to me.” 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, ^v“Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” 18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” 19 Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20 ^wAs for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” 21 Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, ^xfrom the least of the tribes of Israel? ^yAnd is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

22 Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’” 24 So the cook took up ^zthe leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.” ^{▼▼Hebrew appointed, saying, ‘I have invited the people’}

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 25 And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew and he spoke with Saul} ^acon the roof, and he lay down to sleep. 26 Then at the break of dawn ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew And they arose early and at the break of dawn} Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

27 As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.”

1 Samuel 23

David Saves the City of Keilah

1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against ^aeKeilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 Therefore David ^afinquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David ^aginquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, ^ahfor I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

6 ^aiWhen Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, ^aj“Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, ^ak“They will surrender you.” 13 Then David and his men, ^alwho were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went ^amwherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country ^anof the wilderness of ^aoZiph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. ^apSaul my father also knows this.” 18 ^aqAnd the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

19 ^arThen the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of ^asJeshimon? 20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, ^atand our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” 21 And Saul said, ^au“May you be blessed by the Lord, ^avfor you have had compassion on me. 22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

Now David and his men were ^awin the wilderness of Maon, ^axin the Arabah to the south of ^ayJeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. ^{▼▼Or Rock of Divisions} 29 ^{▼▼Ch 24:1 in Hebrew} And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of ^bbEngedi.