1 Samuel 27
1 David loh a lungbuei ah, “Hnin at atah Saul kut neh ka khoengvoep uh pawn ni. Kai ham a then pawt lakah tah Philisti kho la ka poeng ka hal mai eh. Te daengah ni Israel khorhi khui boeih atah kai tlap ham akhaw Saul loh kai taeng lamkah vi uh vetih a kut te ka poeng ka hal eh,” a ti.
But David thought, “Some day Saul will capture me [if I stay around here]. So the best thing that I can do is to escape and go to the Philistia area. If I do that, Saul will stop searching for me here in Israel, and I will be safe.”
2 Te phoeiah David te thoo tih, a taengkah hlang ya rhuk neh Gath manghai Maoch capa Akhish te a paan.
So David and his 600 men left Israel and went to see Maoch’s son Achish, who was king of Gath [city in the Philistia area].
3 David amah neh a hlang rhoek khaw, a hlang kah a imkhui khaw, David neh a yuu rhoi Jezreel nu Ahinoam, Karmel Nabal yuu Abigail khaw, Gath kah Akhish taengah kho a sak.
David and his men and their families started to live there in Gath, the city where king Achish lived. David’s two wives were with him—Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Nabal’s widow Abigail, from Carmel.
4 Gath la David a yong te Saul taengla a puen pah ngawn dae David tlap koep ham te khoep rhoe khoep voel pawh.
When someone told Saul that David had run away [and was living] in Gath, he stopped searching for David.
5 Te vaengah David loh Akhish taengah, “Na mikhmuh ah mikdaithen ni ka dang atah, khohmuen kah khopuei pakhat ah kai he hmuen m'pae mai lamtah pahoi ka om mai eh. Ram kah khopuei khuiah na sal loh namah taengah kho a sak te ba ham lae?” a ti nah.
[One day] David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with us, give us a place in one of the small villages where we can stay. There is no need [RHQ] for us to stay in the city where you are the king.”
6 Tekah khohnin ah anih te Akhish loh Ziklag kho te a paek. Te dongah Ziklag he tihnin hil Judah manghai rhoek kah la om.
[Achish liked what David suggested]. So that day Achish gave to David Ziklag [town]. As a result, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah since that time.
7 David loh Philisti khohmuen ah kho a sak te a khohnin khaw amah tarhing atah kum at neh hla li lo coeng.
David [and his men] lived in the Philistia area for 16 months.
8 Te vaengah David neh a hlang rhoek loh cet uh tih Geshuri neh Gezari te a cuuk thil uh. Tedae te khohmuen kah khosa rhoek Gezari neh Amalek rhoek tah khosuen lamloh Shur neh Egypt kho duela na paan tangtae ni.
[During that time] David and his men raided the people who lived [in the areas] where the Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek people-groups lived. Those people had lived there a long time. That area extended [south] from Telam to the Shur [Desert] and to [the border of] Egypt.
9 Khohmuen te David loh a ngawn tih huta khaw tongpa khaw hing sak pawh. Tedae boiva, saelhung, laak, kalauk neh himbai te a loh tih a mael daengah Akhish te a paan.
Whenever David’s men attacked them, they killed all the men and women, and they took all the people’s sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels, and even their clothes. Then they would bring those things back home, [and David would go to talk] to Achish.
10 Te vaengah Akhish loh, “Tihnin atah na muk mahpawt a?” a ti nah hatah David loh, “Judah tuithim neh Jerahmeli tuithim, Keni tuithim a?” a ti nah.
Each time Achish would ask David, “Where did you go raiding today?” David [would lie to him]. Sometimes he would reply that they had gone to the southern part of Judah, and sometimes he would say that they had gone to Jerahmeel, or to the area where the Ken people-group lived.
11 Tedae David kah a saii neh a thui soah, “Kaimih kawng he Gath la a khuen vetih puen ve,” a ti dongah David loh huta khaw tongpa khaw hlun pawh. Tekah khosing nen ni Philisti kho kah a om tue khuiah kho a sak.
David’s men never brought back to Gath any man or woman who was left alive. David thought, “If [we do not kill everyone, some of] them [who are still alive] will go and tell Achish [the truth] about what we really did.” David did that all the time that he [and his men] lived in the Philistia area.
12 Te vaengah Akhish loh David te a tangnah tih, “A pilnam Israel taengah a bo rhim la rhim coeng tih kamah taengah kumhal sal la om saeh,” a ti.
So Achish believed [what] David [told him], and said to himself, “[Because of what David has done, ] his own people, the Israelis, must now hate him very much. So he will have to [stay here and] serve me forever.”
