¹Then they told David [beloved] , saying, Behold, the P’lishtim [Immigrants] fight against Ke’ilah [Fortress] , and they rob the threshing floors.

²Therefore David [beloved] enquired of the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) , saying, Shall I go and strike these P’lishtim [Immigrants] ? And the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) said unto David [beloved] , Go, and strike the P’lishtim [Immigrants] , and save Ke’ilah [Fortress] .

³And David’s [beloved] ’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Y’hudah [Let Him (God) Be Praised] : how much more then if we come to Ke’ilah [Fortress] against the armies of the P’lishtim [Immigrants] ?

⁴Then David [beloved] enquired of the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) yet again. And the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) answered him and said, Arise, go down to Ke’ilah [Fortress] ; for I will deliver the P’lishtim [Immigrants] into youi hand.

⁵So David [beloved] and his men went to Ke’ilah [Fortress] , and fought with the P’lishtim [Immigrants] , and brought away their cattle, and struck them with a great slaughter. So David [beloved] saved the inhabitants of Ke’ilah [Fortress] .

⁶And it came to pass, when Avyatar [my father is great] the son of Achi-Melekh [my brother is king] fled to David [beloved] to Ke’ilah [Fortress] , [that] he came down [with] an ephod (vest) in his hand.

⁷And it was told Sha’ul [desired] that David [beloved] was come to Ke’ilah [Fortress] . And Sha’ul [desired] said, God-Elōhīm (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars.

⁸And Sha’ul [desired] called all the people together to war, to go down to Ke’ilah [Fortress] , to besiege David [beloved] and his men.

⁹And David [beloved] knew that Sha’ul [desired] secretly practiced mischief against him; and he said to Avyatar [my father is great] the priest, Bring here the ephod (vest) .

¹⁰Then said David [beloved] , O Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) God-Elōhīm (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] of Yisra’el [He Holds Onto The Heel Of God] , youi servant has certainly heard that Sha’ul [desired] seeks to come to Ke’ilah [Fortress] , to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹Will the men of Ke’ilah [Fortress] deliver me up into his hand? will Sha’ul [desired] come down, as youri servant has heard? O Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) God-Elōhīm (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] of Yisra’el [He Holds Onto The Heel Of God] , I beseech (to call upon; appeal; beg) youi , tell youri servant. And the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) said, He will come down.

¹²Then said David [beloved] , Will the men of Ke’ilah [Fortress] deliver me and my men into the hand of Sha’ul [desired] ? And the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) said, They will deliver [you ] up.

¹³Then David [beloved] and his men, [which were] about six hundred, arose and departed out of Ke’ilah [Fortress] , and went to wherever they could go. And it was told Sha’ul [desired] that David [beloved] was escaped from Ke’ilah [Fortress] ; and he forbare to go forth.

¹⁴And David [beloved] abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziv [brightness] [Battlement (low wall around a roof; wall for defense)]. And Sha’ul [desired] sought him every day, but God-Elōhīm (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] delivered him not into his hand.

¹⁵And David [beloved] saw that Sha’ul [desired] was come out to seek his life: and David [beloved] [was] in the wilderness of Ziv [brightness] [Battlement (low wall around a roof; wall for defense)] in a wood.

¹⁶And Y’honatan [Yehovah has Given] Sha’ul’s [desired] son arose, and went to David [beloved] into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God-Elōhīm (The Living Word) [The Many Powered] .

¹⁷And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Sha’ul [desired] my father shall not find youi ; and youi shall be king over Yisra’el [He Holds Onto The Heel Of God] , and I shall be next unto youi ; and that also Sha’ul [desired] my father knows.

¹⁸And they two made a covenant before the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) : and David [beloved] abode in the wood, and Y’honatan [Yehovah has Given] went to his house.

¹⁹Then came up the Zifim [smelters] to Sha’ul [desired] to Giv’ah [Hill] , saying, Does not David [beloved] hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hikhilah [dark] , which [is] on the south of Y’shim’on [Wasteland] ?

²⁰Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of youi soul to come down; and our part [shall be] to deliver him into the king’s hand.

²¹And Sha’ul [desired] said, Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) [be] you2f of the Lord -Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) ; for you2f have compassion on me.

²²Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt (where one goes freequently) is, [and] who has seen him there: for it is told me [that] he deals very subtly.

²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come you2f again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Y’hudah [Let Him (God) Be Praised] .

²⁴And they arose, and went to Ziv [brightness] [Battlement (low wall around a roof; wall for defense)] before Sha’ul [desired] : but David [beloved] and his men [were] in the wilderness of Ma’on [Habitation] , in the plain on the south of Y’shim’on [Wasteland] .

²⁵Sha’ul [desired] also and his men went to seek [him] . And they told David [beloved] : wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Ma’on [Habitation] . And when Sha’ul [desired] heard [that] , he pursued after David [beloved] in the wilderness of Ma’on [Habitation] .

²⁶And Sha’ul [desired] went on this side of the mountain, and David [beloved] and his men on that side of the mountain: and David [beloved] made haste to get away for fear of Sha’ul [desired] ; for Sha’ul [desired] and his men compassed David [beloved] and his men round about to take them.

²⁷But there came a messenger unto Sha’ul [desired] , saying, Haste youi , and come; for the P’lishtim [Immigrants] have invaded the land.

²⁸For what reason Sha’ul [desired] returned from pursuing after David [beloved] , and went against the P’lishtim [Immigrants] : therefore they called that place Sela [the rocks] -Hamachlekot [the cliff of escapes, or divisions] .

²⁹And David [beloved] went up from there, and dwelt in strong holds at ‘Ein-Gedi [Fount of the Kid] .