David Saves Keilah

23 Then they informed David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against ^(A)Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors.” ² So David ^(B)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ^[a]attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and ^[b]attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” ³ But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are fearful here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?” ⁴ So David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for ^(C)I am going to hand the Philistines over to you.” ⁵ Then David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; and he drove away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^(D)fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. ⁷ When it was reported to Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, 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 But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to ^(E)Abiathar the priest, “^(F)Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “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 citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, please, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” ¹² Then David said, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” And the Lord said, “^(G)They will hand you over.” ¹³ Then David and his men, ^(H)about six hundred, rose up and departed from Keilah, and they went ^(I)wherever they could go. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up ^[c]the pursuit. ¹⁴ David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of ^(J)Ziph. And Saul searched for him every day, but ^(K)God did not hand him over to him.

Saul Pursues David

¹⁵ Now David saw 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, set out and went to David at Horesh, and ^[d](L)encouraged him in God. ¹⁷ He said to him, “^(M)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 second in command to you; and ^(N)Saul my father knows that as well.” ¹⁸ So ^(O)the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh, while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹ Then ^(P)Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not keeping himself hidden with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on ^(Q)the hill of Hachilah, which is south of ^[e]Jeshimon? ²⁰ Now then, O king, come down, ^[f]since you fully desire to ^[g]do so; and ^(R)our part shall be to hand him over to the king.” ²¹ Saul said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, ^(S)since you have had compassion on me. ²² Go now, be more persistent, and investigate and see his place where ^[h]he is hiding, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning. ²³ So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he keeps himself hidden, and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”

²⁴ So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of ^(T)Maon, in the Arabah to the south of ^[i]Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men went to seek him, they informed David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard about it, he pursued 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, while Saul and his men ^(U)were surrounding David and his men to apprehend them. ²⁷ But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have launched an attack against the land!” ²⁸ So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines; therefore they called that place ^[j]the Rock of Division. ^29 [k]And David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of ^(V)Engedi.

David Spares Saul’s Life

24 ^[l]Now ^(W)when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, ^(X)it was reported to him, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” ² Then ^(Y)Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to search for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats. ³ And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul ^(Z)went in to ^[m]relieve himself. Now ^(AA)David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. ⁴ Then David’s men said to him, “Behold, ^(AB)this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; ^(AC)I am about to hand your enemy over to you, and you shall do to him as it seems good ^[n]to you.’” Then David got up and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. ⁵ But it came about afterward that ^(AD)David’s ^[o]conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. ⁶ So he said to his men, “^(AE)Far be it from me because of the Lord that I would do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to reach out with my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” ⁷ And David rebuked his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul got up, ^[p]left the cave, and went on his way.

⁸ Afterward, however, David got up and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, ^(AF)David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. ⁹ And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men ^[q]who say, ‘Behold, David is seeking ^[r]to harm you’? ^10 (AG)Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had handed you over to me today in the cave, and ^(AH)someone said to kill you, but ^[s]I spared you; and I said, ‘I will not reach out with my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ So, ^(AI)my father, look! Indeed, look at the edge of your robe in my hand! For by the fact that I cut off the edge of your robe but did not kill you, know and understand that there is no evil or ^[t]rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you ^(AJ)are lying in wait for my life, to take it. ^12 (AK)May the Lord judge between ^[u]you and me, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘^(AL)Out of the wicked comes wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel gone out? Whom are you pursuing? ^(AM)A dead dog, ^(AN)a single flea? ¹⁵ May ^(AO)the Lord therefore be judge and decide between ^[v]you and me; and may He see and ^(AP)plead my cause and save me from your hand.”

¹⁶ When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “^(AQ)Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul raised his voice and wept. ^17 (AR)And he said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for ^(AS)you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt maliciously with you. ¹⁸ You have declared today that you have done good to me, that ^(AT)the Lord handed me over to you and yet you did not kill me. ¹⁹ Though if a man ^(AU)finds his enemy, will he let him go away ^[w]unharmed? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰ Now, behold, ^(AV)I know that you will certainly be king, and that ^(AW)the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. ²¹ So now ^(AX)swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my ^[x]descendants after me, and that you will not eliminate my name from my father’s household.” ²² And David swore an oath to Saul. Then Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to ^(AY)the stronghold.

Genealogy: The Priestly Line

6 ^[a](A)The sons of Levi were ^[b]Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ² The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ³ The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁴ Eleazar fathered Phinehas, Phinehas fathered Abishua, ⁵ Abishua fathered Bukki, Bukki fathered Uzzi, ⁶ Uzzi fathered Zerahiah, Zerahiah fathered Meraioth, ⁷ Meraioth fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, ^8 (B)Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok ^(C)fathered Ahimaaz, ⁹ Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, Azariah fathered Johanan, ¹⁰ Johanan fathered Azariah (^(D)it was he who served as the priest in the house ^(E)which Solomon built in Jerusalem), ^11 (F)Azariah fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, ¹² Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered ^[c]Shallum, ¹³ Shallum fathered Hilkiah, Hilkiah fathered Azariah, ¹⁴ Azariah fathered ^(G)Seraiah, and Seraiah fathered Jehozadak; ¹⁵ Jehozadak went along when the Lord led Judah and Jerusalem into exile ^[d]by Nebuchadnezzar.

^16 [e](H)The sons of Levi were ^[f]Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁷ These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ¹⁹ The sons of ^(I)Merari were Mahli and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households. ²⁰ Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, ²¹ Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, and Jeatherai his son. ²² The sons of Kohath were Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, ²³ Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, ²⁴ Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. ²⁵ The sons of Elkanah were Amasai and Ahimoth. ²⁶ As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son, Nahath his son, ²⁷ Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, and Elkanah his son. ²⁸ The sons of Samuel were ^(J)Joel, the firstborn, and Abijah, the second. ²⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, ³⁰ Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son.

^31 (K)Now these are the ones whom David appointed over the ^[g]service of song in the house of the Lord, ^(L)after the ark rested there. ³² They were ministering in song in front of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon’s building of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they ^[h]served in their office according to their order. ³³ These are the ones who ^[i]served with their sons: From the sons of the Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, ³⁴ the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah, ³⁵ the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, ³⁶ the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, ³⁷ the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, ³⁸ the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. ³⁹ Heman’s brother Asaph stood at his right hand, Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea, ⁴⁰ the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah, ⁴¹ the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah, ⁴² the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei, ⁴³ the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. ⁴⁴ On the left hand were their kinsmen the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, ⁴⁵ the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, ⁴⁶ the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer, ⁴⁷ the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. ⁴⁸ Their kinsmen the Levites were ^[j]appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

⁴⁹ But Aaron and his sons ^[k](M)offered on the altar of burnt offering and ^(N)on the altar of incense, for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and ^(O)to make atonement for Israel, in accordance with everything that Moses the servant of God had commanded. ^50 (P)These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, ⁵¹ Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, ⁵² Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, ⁵³ Zadok his son, and Ahimaaz his son.

⁵⁴ Now these are their settlements according to their camps within their borders. To the sons of Aaron of the families of the Kohathites (for theirs was the ^(Q)first lot), ⁵⁵ to them they gave ^(R)Hebron in the land of Judah and its pasture lands around it; ^56 (S)but they gave the fields of the city and its settlements to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ^57 (T)To the sons of Aaron they gave the following cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah together with its pasture lands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, ^58 [l]Hilen with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, ^59 [m]Ashan with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; ⁶⁰ and from the tribe of Benjamin: Geba with its pasture lands, ^[n]Allemeth with its pasture lands, and Anathoth with its pasture lands. Their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities in all.

^61 (U)Then to the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot, from the family of the tribe, from the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities. ⁶² To the sons of Gershom, according to their families, were given from the tribe of Issachar, the tribe of Asher, the tribe of Naphtali, and the tribe of Manasseh, thirteen cities in Bashan. ^63 (V)To the sons of Merari were given by lot, according to their families, from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. ^64 (W)So the sons of Israel gave the Levites the cities with their pasture lands. ⁶⁵ They gave by lot from the tribe of the sons of Judah, the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, ^(X)these cities which are mentioned by name.

^66 (Y)Now some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim. ⁶⁷ They gave to them the following cities of refuge: Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands, Gezer with its pasture lands, ⁶⁸ Jokmeam with its pasture lands, Beth-horon with its pasture lands, ⁶⁹ Aijalon with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; ⁷⁰ and from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasture lands and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.

⁷¹ To the sons of Gershom were given, from the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands and Ashtaroth with its pasture lands; ⁷² and from the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, ⁷³ Ramoth with its pasture lands, and Anem with its pasture lands; ⁷⁴ and from the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ⁷⁵ Hukok with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands; ⁷⁶ and from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, Hammon with its pasture lands, and Kiriathaim with its pasture lands.

⁷⁷ To the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari, were given, from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono with its pasture lands, Tabor with its pasture lands, ⁷⁸ and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, were given them, from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasture lands, Jahzah with its pasture lands, ⁷⁹ Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands; ⁸⁰ and from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, Mahanaim with its pasture lands, ⁸¹ Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands.

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”

The Macedonian Vision

16 Now Paul also came to ^(A)Derbe and to ^(B)Lystra. And a disciple was there, named ^(C)Timothy, the son of a ^(D)Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, ² and he was well spoken of by ^(E)the brothers and sisters who were in ^(F)Lystra and ^(G)Iconium. ³ Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he ^(H)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering ^(I)the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by ^(J)the apostles and ^(K)elders in Jerusalem. ⁵ So ^(L)the churches were being strengthened ^[a]in the faith, and were ^(M)increasing in number daily.

⁶ They passed through the ^[b](N)Phrygian and ^(O)Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ^[c](P)Asia; ⁷ and after they came to ^(Q)Mysia, they were trying to go into ^(R)Bithynia, and the ^(S)Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸ and passing by ^(T)Mysia, they went down to ^(U)Troas. ^9 (V)And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^(W)Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ When he had seen ^(X)the vision, ^(Y)we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^(Z)preach the gospel to them.

¹¹ So after setting sail from ^(AA)Troas, we ran ^(AB)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis; ¹² and from there to ^(AC)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^(AD)Macedonia, ^(AE)a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city. ¹³ And on ^(AF)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

First Convert in Europe

¹⁴ A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of ^(AG)Thyatira, and ^(AH)a worshiper of God. ^[d]The Lord ^(AI)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ Now when she and ^(AJ)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶ It happened that as we were going to ^(AK)the place of prayer, a slave woman who had ^(AL)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of ^(AM)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” ¹⁸ Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ^(AN)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very ^[e]moment.

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of ^(AO)profit was suddenly gone, they seized ^(AP)Paul and Silas and ^(AQ)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰ and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, ²¹ and they ^(AR)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are ^(AS)Romans.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²² The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their ^[f]robes off them and proceeded to order ^[g]them to be ^(AT)beaten with rods. ²³ When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding ^(AU)the jailer to guard them securely; ^24 [h]and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^(AV)the ^[i]stocks.

²⁵ Now about midnight ^(AW)Paul and Silas were praying and ^(AX)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly ^(AY)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^(AZ)all the doors were opened, and everyone’s ^(BA)chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When ^(BB)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^(BC)to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before ^(BD)Paul and Silas; ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^(BE)what must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

³¹ They said, “^(BF)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^(BG)your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(BH)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set ^[j]food before them, and was ^[k]overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with ^(BI)his whole household.

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And ^(BJ)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go ^(BK)in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—^(BL)men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come ^[l]in person and lead us out.” ³⁸ The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^(BM)And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹ and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them ^(BN)to leave the city. ⁴⁰ They left the prison and entered the house of ^(BO)Lydia, and when they saw ^(BP)the brothers and sisters, they ^[m]encouraged them and departed.