1 Samuel 23:9–17

⁹ When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” ¹⁰ And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.” “He will,” said the LORD. ¹² So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” “They will,” said the LORD. ¹³ Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth. ¹⁴ And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand. ¹⁵ While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life. ¹⁶ And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God, ¹⁷ saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.”