Through the Bible – Day 102

₁When David escaped from the town of Gath, he went to Adullam Cave. His brothers and the rest of his family found out where he was, and they followed him there. ₂A lot of other people joined him too. Some were in trouble, others were angry or in debt, and David was soon the leader of four hundred men.

₃David left Adullam Cave and went to the town of Mizpeh in Moab, where he talked with the king of Moab. “Please,” David said, “let my father and mother stay with you until I find out what God will do with me.” ₄So he brought his parents to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him while David was in hiding.

₅One day the prophet Gad told David, “Don't stay here! Go back to Judah.” David then left and went to Hereth Forest.

₆Saul was sitting under a small tree on top of the hill at Gibeah when he heard that David and his men had been seen. Saul was holding his spear, and his officers were standing in front of him. ₇He told them:

₉Doeg the Edomite was standing with the other officers and spoke up, “When I was in the town of Nob, I saw that son of Jesse. He was visiting the priest Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. ₁₀Ahimelech talked to the LORD for him, then gave him food and the sword that had belonged to Goliath the Philistine.”

₁₁Saul sent a message to Ahimelech and his whole family of priests at Nob, ordering them to come to him. When they came, ₁₂Saul told them, “Listen to me, you son of Ahitub.”

“Certainly, Your Majesty,” Ahimelech answered.

₁₃Saul demanded, “Why did you plot against me with that son of Jesse? You helped him rebel against me by giving him food and a sword, and by talking with God for him. Now he's trying to ambush me!”

₁₄“Your Majesty, none of your officers is more loyal than David!” Ahimelech replied. “He's your son-in-law and the captain of your bodyguard. Everyone in your family respects him. ₁₅This isn't the first time I've talked with God for David, and it's never made you angry before! Please don't accuse me or my family like this. I have no idea what's going on!”

₁₆“Ahimelech,” Saul said, “you and your whole family are going to die.”

₁₇Saul shouted to his bodyguards, “These priests of the LORD helped David! They knew he was running away, but they didn't tell me. Kill them!”

But the king's officers would not attack the priests of the LORD.

₁₈Saul turned to Doeg, who was from Edom, and said, “Kill the priests!”

On that same day, Doeg killed eighty-five priests. ₁₉Then he attacked the town of Nob, where the priests had lived, and he killed everyone there—men, women, children, and babies. He even killed their cattle, donkeys, and sheep.

₂₀Ahimelech's son Abiathar was the only one who escaped. He ran to David ₂₁and told him, “Saul has murdered the priests at Nob!”

₂₂David answered, “That day when I saw Doeg, I knew he would tell Saul! Your family died because of me. ₂₃Stay here. Isn't the same person trying to kill both of us? Don't worry! You'll be safe here with me.”

₁One day some people told David, “The Philistines keep attacking the town of Keilah and stealing grain from the threshing place.”

₂David asked the LORD, “Should I attack these Philistines?”

“Yes,” the LORD answered. “Attack them and rescue Keilah.”

₃But David's men said, “Look, even here in Judah we're afraid of the Philistines. We will be terrified if we try to fight them at Keilah!”

₄David asked the LORD about it again. “Leave at once,” the LORD answered. “I will give you victory over the Philistines at Keilah.”

₅David and his men went there and fiercely attacked the Philistines. They killed many of them, then led away their cattle, and rescued the people of Keilah.

_6-8Meanwhile, Saul heard that David was in Keilah. “God has let me catch David,” Saul said. “David is trapped inside a walled town where the gates can be locked.” Saul decided to go there and surround the town, in order to trap David and his men. He sent messengers who told the towns and villages, “Send men to serve in Saul's army!”

By this time, Abiathar had joined David in Keilah and had brought along everything he needed to get answers from God.

₉David heard about Saul's plan to capture him, and he told Abiathar, “Let's ask God what we should do.”

₁₀David prayed, “LORD God of Israel, I was told that Saul is planning to come here. What should I do? Suppose he threatens to destroy the town because of me. ₁₁Would the leaders of Keilah turn me over to Saul? Or is he really coming? Please tell me, LORD.”

“Yes, he will come,” the LORD answered.

₁₂David asked, “Would the leaders of Keilah hand me and my soldiers over to Saul?”

“Yes, they would,” the LORD answered.

₁₃David and his six hundred men got out of there fast and started moving from place to place. Saul heard that David had left Keilah, and he decided not to go after him.

₁₄David stayed in hideouts in the hill country of Ziph Desert. Saul kept searching, but God never let Saul catch him.

₁₅One time, David was at Horesh in Ziph Desert. He was afraid because Saul had come to the area to kill him. ₁₆But Jonathan went to see David, and God helped him encourage David. ₁₇“Don't be afraid,” Jonathan said. “My father Saul will never get his hands on you. In fact, you're going to be the next king of Israel, and I'll be your highest official. Even my father knows it's true.”

₁₈They both promised the LORD that they would always be loyal to each other. Then Jonathan went home, but David stayed at Horesh.

₁₉Some people from the town of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Your Majesty, David has a hideout not far from us! It's near Horesh, somewhere on Mount Hachilah south of Jeshimon. ₂₀If you come, we will help you catch him.”

₂₁Saul told them:

₂₄The people from Ziph went back ahead of Saul, and they found out that David and his men were still south of Jeshimon in the Maon Desert. ₂₅Saul and his army set out to find David. But David heard that Saul was coming, and he went to a place called The Rock, one of his hideouts in Maon Desert.

Saul found out where David was and started closing in on him. ₂₆Saul was going around a hill on one side, and David and his men were on the other side, trying to get away. Saul and his soldiers were just about to capture David and his men, ₂₇when a messenger came to Saul and said, “Come quickly! The Philistines are attacking Israel and taking everything.”

₂₈Saul stopped going after David and went back to fight the Philistines. That's why the place is called “Escape Rock”.

₂₉David left and went to live in the hideouts at En-Gedi.

₁When Saul got back from fighting off the Philistines, he heard that David was in the desert around En-Gedi. ₂Saul led three thousand of Israel's best soldiers out to look for David and his men near Wild Goat Rocks at En-Gedi. ₃There were some sheep pens along the side of the road, and one of them was built around the entrance to a cave. Saul went into the cave to relieve himself.

David and his men were hiding at the back of the cave. ₄They whispered to David, “The LORD told you he was going to let you defeat your enemies and do whatever you want with them. This must be the day the LORD was talking about.”

David sneaked over and cut off a small piece of Saul's robe, but Saul didn't notice a thing. ₅Afterwards, David was sorry that he had even done that, _6-7and he told his men, “Stop talking foolishly. We're not going to attack Saul. He's my king, and I pray that the LORD will keep me from doing anything to harm his chosen king.”

Saul left the cave and started down the road. ₈Soon, David also got up and left the cave. “Your Majesty!” he shouted from a distance.

Saul turned around to look. David bowed down very low ₉and said:

₁₆“David, my son—is that you?” Saul asked. Then he started crying ₁₇and said:

₂₂So David promised, and Saul went home. David and his men returned to their hideout.

₁Later the Lord chose seventy-two other followers and sent them out two by two to every town and village where he was about to go. ₂He said to them:

₁₇When the seventy-two followers returned, they were excited and said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed when we spoke in your name!”

₁₈Jesus told them: