ዳዊት ቅዒላን መታደጉ
1ከዚህ በኋላ “እነሆ፤ ፍልስጥኤማውያን በቅዒላ ላይ ጦርነት ከፍተው፣ ዐውድማውን እየዘረፉት ነው” ብለው ለዳዊት ነገሩት። 2እርሱም፣ “እነዚህን ፍልስጥኤማውያን ሄጄ ልምታን?” ሲል እግዚአብሔርን ጠየቀ።
እግዚአብሔርም፣ “ሂድ፤ ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ምታ፤ ቅዒላንም አድናት” ብሎ መለሰለት።
3የዳዊት ሰዎች ግን፣ “እዚሁ በይሁዳ ምድር እያለን እየፈራን ነው፤ የፍልስጥኤማውያንን ሰራዊት ለመውጋት ወደ ቅዒላ የምንሄድ ከሆነማ ምን ያህል የሚያስፈራ ነው?” አሉት።
4ዳዊት እንደ ገና እግዚአብሔርን ጠየቀ፤ እግዚአብሔርም፣ “ፍልስጥኤማውያንን በእጅህ አሳልፌ ስለምሰጥ፣ ወደ ቅዒላ ውረድ” አለው። 5ስለዚህ ዳዊትና ሰዎቹ ወደ ቅዒላ ሄደው፣ ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ወጉ፤ እንስሶቻቸውን ማርከው ወሰዱ፤ በፍልስጥኤማውያን ላይ ከባድ ጕዳት አደረሱ፤ ዳዊትም የቅዒላን ሕዝብ ታደገ። 6የአቢሜሌክ ልጅ አብያታር ወደ ቅዒላ ወደ ዳዊት በሸሸ ጊዜ፣ ኤፉዱን ይዞ ወርዶ ነበር።
ሳኦል ዳዊትን ማሳደዱ
7ሳኦል የዳዊትን ወደ ቅዒላ መሄድ በሰማ ጊዜ፣ “ዳዊት መዝጊያና የብረት መወርወሪያ ወዳላት ከተማ መግባቱ፣ ራሱን በራሱ እንደ ማሰር ስለሆነ፣ ይህን ሰው እግዚአብሔር በእጄ አሳልፎ ሰጥቶኛል” አለ። 8ሳኦልም፣ ወደ ቅዒላ ወርደው ዳዊትንና ሰዎቹን እንዲከቡ፣ ሰራዊቱን በሙሉ ለጦርነት ጠራ።
9ዳዊትም ሳኦል ክፉ እንዳሰበበት ባወቀ ጊዜ፣ ካህኑን አብያታርን፣ “ኤፉዱን አምጣ” አለው። 10ከዚያም ዳዊት እንዲህ አለ፤ “የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ ሳኦል ወደ ቅዒላ መጥቶ፣ በእኔ ምክንያት ከተማዪቱን ለማጥፋት ማሰቡን ባሪያህ በትክክል ሰምቷል። 11የቅዒላ ሰዎች አሳልፈው ይሰጡኝ ይሆን? ባሪያህ እንደሰማውም ሳኦል ወደዚህ ይወርድ ይሆን? የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ ለባሪያህ እንድትነግረው እለምንሃለሁ።”
እግዚአብሔርም፣ “አዎን ይወርዳል” አለው።
12ዳዊትም እንደ ገና፣ “የቅዒላ ነዋሪዎች እኔንና ሰዎቼን ለሳኦል አሳልፈው ይሰጡናል?” ሲል ጠየቀ።
እግዚአብሔርም፣ “አዎን አሳልፈው ይሰጧችኋል” አለው።
13ስለዚህ ዳዊትና ስድስት መቶ የሚሆኑ ሰዎቹ ከቅዒላ ተነሥተው መሄድ ወደሚችሉበት ቦታ ሁሉ ሄዱ፤ ዳዊት ከቅዒላ መሸሹን በሰማ ጊዜ፣ ሳኦል ወደዚያ መሄዱን ተወ።
14ዳዊት በምድረ በዳ ባሉ ምሽጎችና በዚፍ ምድረ በዳ ኰረብታዎች ተቀመጠ፤ ሳኦልም በየዕለቱ ይከታተለው ነበር፤ ነገር ግን እግዚአብሔር ዳዊትን አሳልፎ አልሰጠውም።
15ዳዊት በዚፍ ምድረ በዳ ሖሬሽ በተባለ ቦታ ሳለ፣ ሳኦል ሊገድለው መምጣቱን አየ። 16የሳኦል ልጅ ዮናታንም ዳዊት ወዳለበት ወደ ሖሬሽ ሄዶ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ስም አበረታታው፤ 17እርሱም፣ “አትፍራ፤ አባቴ ሳኦል እጁን በአንተ ላይ አያሳርፍም፤ በእስራኤል ላይ ትነግሣለህ፤ እኔም ካንተ ቀጥዬ ሁለተኛ ሰው እሆናለሁ፤ ይህንም አባቴ ሳኦል እንኳ ያውቀዋል” አለው። 18ሁለቱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቃል ኪዳን አደረጉ። ከዚያም ዮናታን ወደ ቤቱ ሄደ፤ ዳዊት ግን እዚያው ሖሬሽ ተቀመጠ።
19የዚፍ ሰዎች ወደ ጊብዓ ወደ ሳኦል ወጥተው እንዲህ አሉ፤ “እነሆ፤ ዳዊት ከየሴሞን በስተ ደቡብ በኤኬላ ኰረብታ ላይ በሖሬሽ ምሽጎች ውስጥ በመካከላችን ተደብቆ የለምን? 20አሁንም ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ አንተ ደስ ባለህ ጊዜ ና እንጂ፣ እርሱን ለንጉሡ አሳልፎ ለመስጠት እኛ አለን።”
21ሳኦል እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “ለእኔ ስለ ተቈረቈራችሁ እግዚአብሔር ይባርካችሁ፤ 22አሁንም ሂዱና አጣሩ ዘወትር የት እንደ ሆነና በዚያ ያየውን ሰው ለይታችሁ ዕወቁ፤ እጅግ ተንኰለኛ መሆኑን ሰምቻለሁና። 23የሚደበቅባቸውን ቦታዎች ሁሉ ካያችሁ በኋላ ግልጽ መረጃ ይዛችሁ ወደ እኔ ኑ፤ እኔም አብሬችሁ እሄዳለሁ፤ ብቻ በዚያ አገር ይገኝ እንጂ በይሁዳ ነገዶች ሁሉ መካከል ከገባበት ጕድጓድ ገብቼ አወጣዋለሁ።”
24ስለዚህ ሰዎቹ ለመሄድ ተነሥተው ከሳኦል በፊት ወደ ዚፍ ሄዱ፤ በዚህ ጊዜ ዳዊትና ሰዎቹ ከየሴሞን በስተ ደቡብ በዓረባ ውስጥ ባለው በማዖን ምድረ በዳ ነበሩ።
25ሳኦልና ሰዎቹም ዳዊትን ሊፈልጉት ሄዱ፤ እርሱም ይህን በሰማ ጊዜ፣ ወደ ዐለቱ ወርዶ በማዖን ምድረ በዳ ተቀመጠ። ሳኦልም ይህን እንደ ሰማ፣ ዳዊትን በማሳደድ ወደ ማዖን ምድረ በዳ ዘልቆ ገባ።
26ሳኦል በተራራው በአንዱ በኩል ሆኖ ሲያሳድድ፣ ዳዊትና ሰዎቹ ደግሞ በተራራው በሌላ በኩል ከሳኦል ለማምለጥ ይጣደፉ ነበር። ሳኦልና ወታደሮቹ ዳዊትንና ሰዎቹን ከብበው ለመያዝ ተቃርበው ሳሉ፣ 27አንድ መልእክተኛ ወደ ሳኦል መጥቶ፣ “ፍልስጥኤማውያን አገሩን ወረውታልና ቶሎ ድረስ!” አለው። 28ከዚያም ሳኦል ዳዊትን ማሳደዱን ትቶ፣ ከፍልስጥኤማውያን ጋር ሊዋጋ ሄደ። ከዚህ የተነሣም የዚያን ቦታ ስም “የመለያያ ዐለት” ብለው ጠሩት። 29ዳዊትም ከዚያ ወደ ላይ ወጥቶ በዐይንጋዲ ምሽጎች ተቀመጠ።
David Saves the People of Keilah
1David was told, “The Philistines are fighting against the town of Keilah. They are stealing grain from the threshing floors.” 2So he asked the Lord for advice. He said, “Should I go and attack those Philistines?”
The Lord answered him, “Go and attack them. Save Keilah.”
3But David’s men said to him, “We’re afraid here in Judah. Suppose we go to Keilah and fight against the Philistine army. Then we’ll be even more afraid.”
4Once again David asked the Lord what he should do. The Lord answered him, “Go down to Keilah. I am going to hand the Philistines over to you.” 5So David and his men went to Keilah. They fought against the Philistines and carried off their livestock. David wounded and killed large numbers of Philistines. And he saved the people of Keilah. 6Abiathar, the son of Ahimelek, had brought down the sacred linen apron with him from Nob. He did it when he ran away to David at Keilah.
Saul Chases David
7Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. He said, “God has handed him over to me. David has trapped himself by entering a town that has gates with metal bars.” 8So Saul brought together all his soldiers to go to battle. He ordered them to go down to Keilah. He told them to surround David and his men. He told them to get ready to attack them.
9David learned that Saul was planning to attack him. So he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the linen apron.” 10Then David said, “Lord, you are the God of Israel. I know for sure that Saul plans to come to Keilah. He plans to destroy the town because of me. 11Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down here, as I’ve heard he would? Lord, you are the God of Israel. Please answer me.”
The Lord said, “He will come down.”
12Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?”
And the Lord said, “They will.”
13So David and his men left Keilah. The total number of them was about 600. They kept moving from place to place. Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah. So he didn’t go there.
14Sometimes David stayed in places of safety in the desert. At other times he stayed in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul looked for him. But God didn’t hand David over to him.
15David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph. There he learned that Saul had come out to kill him. 16Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh. He told David that God would make him strong. 17“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul won’t harm you. You will be king over Israel. And I will be next in command. Even my father Saul knows this.” 18The two of them made a covenant of friendship in front of the Lord. Then Jonathan went home. But David remained at Horesh.
19The people of Ziph went up to Saul at Gibeah. They said, “David is hiding among us. He’s hiding in places of safety at Horesh. Horesh is south of Jeshimon on the hill of Hakilah. 20Your Majesty, come down when it pleases you to come. It will be our duty to hand David over to you.”
21Saul replied, “May the Lord bless you because you were concerned about me. 22Make sure you are right. Go and check things out again. Find out where David usually goes. Find out who has seen him there. People tell me he’s very tricky. 23Find out about all the hiding places he uses. Come back to me with all the facts. I’ll go with you. Suppose he’s in the area. Then I’ll track him down among all the family groups of Judah.”
24So they started out. They went to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the Desert of Maon. Maon is south of Jeshimon in the Arabah Valley. 25Saul and his men started out to look for David. David was told about it. So he went down to a rock in the Desert of Maon to hide. Saul heard he was there. So he went into the Desert of Maon to chase David.
26Saul was going along one side of the mountain. David and his men were on the other side. They were hurrying to get away from Saul. Saul and his army were closing in on David and his men. They were about to capture them. 27Just then a messenger came to Saul. He said, “Come quickly! The Philistines are attacking the land.” 28So Saul stopped chasing David. He went to fight against the Philistines. That’s why they call that place Sela Hammahlekoth. 29David left that place. He went and lived in places of safety near En Gedi.
