12. “And will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul?” David asked again.“They will,” the Lord answered.
13. So David and his men — about 600 in all — left Keilah at once and kept on the move. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up his plan.
14. David stayed in hiding in the hill country, in the wilderness near Ziph. Saul was always trying to find him, but God did not hand David over to him.
15. David saw that Saul was out to kill him.David was at Horesh, in the wilderness near Ziph.
16. Jonathan went to him there and encouraged him with assurances of God's protection,
17. saying to him, “Don't be afraid. My father Saul won't be able to harm you. He knows very well that you are the one who will be the king of Israel and that I will be next in rank to you.”
18. The two of them made a sacred promise of friendship to each other. David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
19. Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is hiding in our territory at Horesh on Mount Hachilah, in the southern part of the Judean wilderness.
20. We know, Your Majesty, how much you want to capture him; so come to our territory, and we will make sure that you catch him.”
21. Saul answered, “May the Lord bless you for being so kind to me!
22. Go and make sure once more; find out for certain where he is and who has seen him there. I hear that he is very cunning.
23. Find out exactly the places where he hides, and be sure to bring back a report to me straight away. Then I will go with you, and if he is still in the region, I will hunt him down, even if I have to search the whole land of Judah.”
24. So they left and returned to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in a desolate valley in the southern part of the Judean wilderness.
25. Saul and his men set out to look for David, but he heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this, he went after David.