¹ And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines fight against Ceila, and they rob the barns.

² Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said to David: go, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and shalt save Ceila.

³ And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold we are in fear here in Judea, how much more if we go to Ceila against the hands of the Philistines?

⁴ Therefore David consulted the Lord again. And he answered and said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.

⁵ David therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great slaughter of them: and David saved the inhabitants of Ceila.

⁶ Now at that time, when Abiathar the son of Achimelech fled to David to Ceila, he came down having an ephod with him.

⁷ And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and Saul said: The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and he is shut up, being come into a city, that hath gates and bars.

⁸ And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight against Ceila, and to besiege David, and his men.

⁹ Now when David understood, that Saul secretly prepared evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest: Bring hither the ephod.

¹⁰ And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard a report, that Saul designeth to come to Ceila, to destroy the city for my sake:

¹¹ Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said: He will come down.

¹² And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me, and my men, into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said: They will deliver thee up.

¹³ Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose, and departing from Ceila, wandered up and down uncertain where they should stay: and it was told Saul that David was fled from Ceila, and had escaped: wherefore he forbore to go out.

¹⁴ But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands.

¹⁵ And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood.

¹⁶ And Jonathan the son of Saul arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him:

¹⁷ Fear not: for the hand of my father Saul shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee, yea, and my father knoweth this.

¹⁸ And the two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood: but Jonathan returned to his house.

¹⁹ And the Ziphites went up to Saul in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not David lie hid with us in the strong holds of the wood, in mount Hachila, which is on the right hand of the desert.

²⁰ Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down: and it shall be our business to deliver him into the king's hands.

²¹ And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case.

²² Go therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously inquire, and consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him.

²³ Consider and see all his lurking holes, wherein he is bid, and return to me with the certainty of the thing, that I may go with you. And if be should even go down into the earth to hide himself, I will search him out in all the thousands of Juda.

²⁴ And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul: and David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain at the right hand of Jesimon.

²⁵ Then Saul and his men went to seek him: and it was told David, and forthwith he went down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon: and when Saul had heard of it he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶ And Saul went on this side of the mountain: and David and his men were on the other side of the mountain: and David despaired of being able to escape from the face of Saul: and Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about to take them.

²⁷ And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to come, for the Philistines have poured in themselves upon the land.

²⁸ Wherefore Saul returned, leaving the pursuit of David, and went to meet the Philistines. For this cause they called that place, the Rock of division.

¹ I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.

² Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.

³ Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.

⁴ Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.

⁵ For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.

⁶ It is he who builds his rooms in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name.

⁷ Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?" says Yahweh. "Haven't I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

⁸ Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," says Yahweh.

⁹ "For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.

¹⁰ All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, 'Evil won't overtake nor meet us.'

¹¹ In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;

¹² that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name," says Yahweh who does this.

¹³ "Behold, the days come," says Yahweh, "that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills.

¹⁴ I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

¹⁵ I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says Yahweh your God.