1 Samuel 27

1 But David said to himself, “One of these days Saul is going to get me. I think I'd better run away to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me all over Israel and he won't catch me.”

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.

2 So David and the six hundred men with him set off, crossed the border, and went to Achish, son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

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

3 David and his men settled down with Achish in Gath. All the men had their families with them, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel, Nabal's widow.

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.

4 When Saul found out that David had run away to Gath, he didn't go on looking for him.

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

5 David said to Achish, “Please do me a favor: assign me somewhere in one of the towns in the countryside so I can live there. I, your servant, don't really deserve to live in the royal city with you.”

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.

6 Achish gave him Ziklag right away, and the town still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.

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

7 David lived in the country of the Philistines for a year and four months.

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

8 During that time David and his men were raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. These people had lived in the land as far as Shur and Egypt from ancient times.

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.

9 When David attacked a place, he did not leave anybody alive. He took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would go back to Achish.

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.

10 When Achish asked him, “Where have you been raiding today?” David would reply, “In the desert of Judah,” or “the desert of Jerahmeel,” or “the desert of the Kenites.”

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.

11 David didn't leave anybody alive that could come to Gath because he thought, “They might tell on us and say, ‘David did this.’” This is what he did all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines.

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.

12 Achish trusted David, and said to himself, “He's made himself so offensive to his people the Israelites that he'll have to serve me forever.”

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.