1 Samuel 27

1 And David said to himself, Some day death will come to me by the hand of Saul: the only thing for me to do is to get away into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will give up hope of taking me in any part of the land of Israel: and so I may be able to get away from him.

And David says to his heart, “Now I am consumed by the hand of Saul one day; there is nothing better for me than that I diligently escape to the land of the Philistines, and Saul has been despairing of me—of seeking me anymore in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.”

2 So David and the six hundred men who were with him went over to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

And David rises, and passes over, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath;

3 And David and his men were living with Achish at Gath; every man had his family with him, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, who had been the wife of Nabal.

and David dwells with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, [even] David and his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelitess.

4 And Saul, hearing that David had gone to Gath, went after him no longer.

And it is declared to Saul that David has fled to Gath, and he has not added to seek him anymore.

5 Then David said to Achish, If now I have grace in your eyes, let me have a place in one of the smaller towns of your land, to be my living-place; for it is not right for your servant to be living with you in the king's town.

And David says to Achish, “Now if I have found grace in your eyes, they give a place to me in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, indeed, why does your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”

6 So Achish straight away gave him Ziklag: and for that reason Ziklag has been the property of the kings of Judah to this day.

And Achish gives Ziklag to him in that day, therefore Ziklag has been for the kings of Judah until this day.

7 And David was living in the land of the Philistines for the space of a year and four months.

And the number of the days which David has dwelt in the field of the Philistines [is one year] of days and four months;

8 And David and his men went up and made attacks on the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for these were the people who were living in the land from Telam on the way to Shur, as far as Egypt.

and David and his men go up, and they push toward the Geshurite, and the Gerizite, and the Amalekite (for they are inhabitants of the land from of old), as you come to Shur and to the land of Egypt,

9 And David again and again made attacks on the land till not a man or a woman was still living; and he took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing; and he came back to Achish.

and David has struck the land, and does not keep alive man and woman, and has taken sheep, and oxen, and donkeys, and camels, and garments, and turns back, and comes to Achish.

10 And every time Achish said, Where have you been fighting today? David said, Against the South of Judah and the South of the Jerahmeelites and the South of the Kenites.

And Achish says, “To where have you pushed today?” And David says, “Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and to the south of the Kenite.”

11 Not one living man or woman did David ever take back with him to Gath, fearing that they might give an account of what had taken place, and say, This is what David did, and so has he been doing all the time while he has been living in the land of the Philistines.

David keeps alive neither man nor woman, to bring in [word] to Gath, saying, “Lest they declare [it] against us, saying, Thus David has done, and thus [is] his custom all the days that he has dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.”

12 And Achish had belief in what David said, saying, He has made himself hated by all his people Israel, and so he will be my servant for ever.

And Achish believes in David, saying, “He has made himself utterly abhorred among his people in Israel, and has been for a perpetual servant to me.”