9. And Dawiḏ knew that Sha’ul was plotting evil against him, and said to Eḇyathar the priest, “Bring the shoulder garment here.”
10. And Dawiḏ said, “O יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, Your servant has heard for certain that Sha’ul seeks to come to Qe‛ilah to destroy the city for my sake.
11. “Are the landowners of Qe‛ilah going to surrender me into his hand? Is Sha’ul coming down, as Your servant has heard? O יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, I pray, let Your servant know.” And יהוה said, “He is coming down.”
12. And Dawiḏ said, “Are the landowners of Qe‛ilah going to surrender me and my men into the hand of Sha’ul?” And יהוה said, “They are going to surrender you.”
13. Then Dawiḏ and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Qe‛ilah and went wherever they could go. And Sha’ul was informed that Dawiḏ had escaped from Qe‛ilah, and he ceased to go out.
14. And Dawiḏ remained in the wilderness, in strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the Wilderness of Ziph. And Sha’ul sought him every day, but Elohim did not give him into his hand.
15. And Dawiḏ saw that Sha’ul had come out to seek his life while Dawiḏ was in the Wilderness of Ziph at Ḥoresh.
16. And Yehonathan, Sha’ul’s son, arose and went to Dawiḏ at Ḥoresh and strengthened his hand in Elohim,
17. and said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Sha’ul my father is not going to find you, and you are to reign over Yisra’ĕl, and I am to be next to you. Even my father Sha’ul knows that.”
18. And they made a covenant before יהוה. And Dawiḏ remained at Ḥoresh while Yehonathan went to his own house.
19. And the Ziphites came up to Sha’ul at Giḇ‛ah, saying, “Is Dawiḏ not hiding with us in strongholds Ḥoresh, in the hill of Ḥaḵilah, which is on the south of the wasteland?
20. “And now, O sovereign, by all the desire of your being, come down, come down, and our part is to surrender him into the sovereign’s hand.”
21. And Sha’ul said, “Blessed are you of יהוה, for you have sympathy with me.
22. “Please go, prepare yet further and find out and see the place where his hide-out is, who has seen him there. For I am told that he is very cunning.