1 Samuel 23:6-18 | NASB

⁶ Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. ⁷ When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has ^[a]delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.” ⁸ So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. ⁹ Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking 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 just as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, 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 Lordsaid, “They will surrender you.” ¹³ Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he ^[b]gave up the pursuit.¹⁴ David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

¹⁵ Now David ^[c]became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. ¹⁶ And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and ^[d]encouraged him in God. ¹⁷ Thus he said to him, “Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also.” ¹⁸ So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.