1And they informed Dawiḏ, saying, “See, the Philistines are fighting against Qe‛ilah, and they are plundering the threshing-floors.”

2So Dawiḏ inquired of יהוה, saying, “Shall I go and smite these Philistines?” And יהוה said to Dawiḏ, “Go and smite the Philistines, and save Qe‛ilah.”

3And Dawiḏ’s men said to him, “See, we here in Yehuḏah are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Qe‛ilah against the armies of the Philistines?”

4And Dawiḏ inquired of יהוה once again. And יהוה answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Qe‛ilah, for I am giving the Philistines into your hand.”

5So Dawiḏ and his men went to Qe‛ilah and fought with the Philistines, and he led away their livestock and smote them, a great smiting. Thus Dawiḏ saved the inhabitants of Qe‛ilah.

6And it came to be, when Eḇyathar son of Aḥimeleḵ fled to Dawiḏ at Qe‛ilah, that he went down with a shoulder garment in his hand.

7And Sha’ul was informed that Dawiḏ had gone to Qe‛ilah. Then Sha’ul said, “Elohim has estranged him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”

8And Sha’ul summoned all the people to battle, to go down to Qe‛ilah to besiege Dawiḏ and his men.

9And Dawiḏ knew that Sha’ul was plotting evil against him, and said to Eḇyathar the priest, “Bring the shoulder garment here.”

10And Dawiḏ said, “O יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, Your servant has heard for certain that Sha’ul seeks to come to Qe‛ilah to destroy the city for my sake.

11“Are the landowners of Qe‛ilah going to surrender me into his hand? Is Sha’ul coming down, as Your servant has heard? O יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, I pray, let Your servant know.” And יהוה said, “He is coming down.”

12And Dawiḏ said, “Are the landowners of Qe‛ilah going to surrender me and my men into the hand of Sha’ul?” And יהוה said, “They are going to surrender you.”

13Then Dawiḏ and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Qe‛ilah and went wherever they could go. And Sha’ul was informed that Dawiḏ had escaped from Qe‛ilah, and he ceased to go out.

14And Dawiḏ remained in the wilderness, in strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the Wilderness of Ziph. And Sha’ul sought him every day, but Elohim did not give him into his hand.

15And Dawiḏ saw that Sha’ul had come out to seek his life while Dawiḏ was in the Wilderness of Ziph at Ḥoresh.

16And Yehonathan, Sha’ul’s son, arose and went to Dawiḏ at Ḥoresh and strengthened his hand in Elohim,

17and said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Sha’ul my father is not going to find you, and you are to reign over Yisra’ĕl, and I am to be next to you. Even my father Sha’ul knows that.”

18And they made a covenant before יהוה. And Dawiḏ remained at Ḥoresh while Yehonathan went to his own house.

19And the Ziphites came up to Sha’ul at Giḇ‛ah, saying, “Is Dawiḏ not hiding with us in strongholds Ḥoresh, in the hill of Ḥaḵilah, which is on the south of the wasteland?

20“And now, O sovereign, by all the desire of your being, come down, come down, and our part is to surrender him into the sovereign’s hand.”

21And Sha’ul said, “Blessed are you of יהוה, for you have sympathy with me.

22“Please go, prepare yet further and find out and see the place where his hide-out is, who has seen him there. For I am told that he is very cunning.

23“So look, and learn all about the hiding places where he hides. And you shall come back to me with certainty, then I shall go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I shall search for him throughout all the clans of Yehuḏah.”

24And they rose up and went to Ziph before Sha’ul, while Dawiḏ and his men were in the Wilderness of Ma‛on, in the desert plain on the south of the wasteland.

25And Sha’ul and his men went to seek him, and they informed Dawiḏ, so he went down to the rock, and remained in the Wilderness of Ma‛on. And when Sha’ul heard this, he pursued Dawiḏ in the Wilderness of Ma‛on.

26And Sha’ul went on one side of the mountain, and Dawiḏ and his men on the other side of the mountain. And Dawiḏ was hurrying to get away from Sha’ul, for Sha’ul and his men were surrounding Dawiḏ and his men to take them.

27Then a messenger came to Sha’ul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!”

28So Sha’ul turned back from pursuing Dawiḏ, and went against the Philistines. Therefore they called that place Sela Hammaḥleqoth.

29And Dawiḏ went up from there and remained in strongholds at Ěn Geḏi.