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, unto his own heart, Now, shall I be swept off, in a single day, by the hand of Saul, —there is nothing for me better than that I, escape, into the land of the Philistines, so shall Saul give up seeking for me any more, in any of the bounds of Israel, so shall I escape out of his hand.
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.
And David arose, and he and the six hundred men that were with him passed over, unto Achish 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 abode with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, —David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal, the Carmelite.
4 When Saul found out that David had run away to Gath, he didn't go on looking for him.
And, when it was told Saul, that David had fled to Gath, he added no more, to seek him.
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 said David unto Achish—If, I pray thee, I have found favour in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there, —for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city, with thee?
6 Achish gave him Ziklag right away, and the town still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
So Achish gave him, on that day, Ziklag, —wherefore Ziklag hath pertained unto the kings of Judah, unto this day.
7 David lived in the country of the Philistines for a year and four months.
And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines became 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 a raid against the Geshurites and the Gizrites and the Amalekites, —for, they, were the inhabitants of the land who had been from age-past times, as thou enterest Shur, even as far as the land of 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.
Now, when David would smite a land, he used to save alive neither man nor woman, —but took sheep and oxen, and asses and camels, and apparel, and returned, and came in unto 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.”
Then said Achish, Whither have ye made a raid, to-day? And David said—Against the South of Judah, or against the South of the Jerahmeelites, or as far as 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.
But, neither man nor woman, used David to save alive, to bring into Gath, for he said, Lest they tell of us, saying, —So, hath David done, and, such, his manner, all the days that he hath dwelt in the country 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 believed in David, saying, —He hath made himself, odious, unto his own people, unto Israel, therefore shall he be my servant all his life long.
