מָלַט

As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I cannot run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.

Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.

Ehud, however, had escaped while the servants waited. He passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah.

At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all robust and valiant men. Not one of them escaped.

Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But David eluded him and the spear struck the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”

So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.

And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!” Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’”

So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

…saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David.

Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth.

David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

“Where have you come from?” David asked. “I have escaped from the Israelite camp,” he replied.

They entered the interior of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

Then Joab went into the house and said to the king, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, of your wives, and of your concubines.

And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom.

Now please, come and let me advise you. Save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.

Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.

Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.

…and each one struck down his opponent. So the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with the cavalry.

And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape, he will forfeit his life for theirs.”

One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

“Let him rest,” said Josiah. “Do not let anyone disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, along with those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and told him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.

…he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.

…the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

…when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

…deliver me from the hand of the enemy; redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless’?

My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.

He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”

…because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

Firebrands stream from his mouth; fiery sparks shoot forth!

They cried out to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disappointed.

A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.

What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah