1 Samuel 27

1 David said in his heart, “I will now perish one day by Saul's hand; there is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines; Saul will give up looking for me any more within all the borders of Israel; in this way I will escape out of his hand.”

And David said in his heart, Now shall I be one day delivered [for death] into the hands of Saul; and there is no good thing for me unless I should escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul should cease from seeking me through every coast of Israel: so I shall escape out of his hand.

2 David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish son of Maok, the king of Gath.

So David arose, and the six hundred men that were with him, and he went to Anchus, son Ammach, king of Geth.

3 David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his own household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite woman, and Abigail the Carmelite woman, Nabal's wife.

And David dwelt with Anchus, he and his men, each with his family; and David and both his wives, Achinaam, the Jezraelitess, and Abigaia the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

4 Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, so he looked for him no longer.

And it was told Saul that David had fled to Geth; and he no longer sought after him.

5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

And David said to Anchus, If now thy servant has found grace in thine eyes, let them give me, I pray thee, a place in one of the cities in the country, and I will dwell there: for why does thy servant dwell with thee in a royal city?

6 So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; that is why Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this very day.

And he gave him Sekelac in that day: therefore Sekelac came into possession of the king of Judea to this day.

7 The number of days that David lived in the land of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was four months.

8 David and his men attacked various places, making raids on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those nations were the inhabitants of the land, as you go to Shur, as far as the land of Egypt. They had been living there in the land from ancient times.

And David and his men went up, and made an attack on all the Gesirites and on the Amalekites: and behold, the land was inhabited, (even the land from Gelampsur) by those who come from the fortified [cities] even to the land of Egypt.

9 David attacked the land and saved neither man nor woman alive; he took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing; he would return and come again to Achish.

And he smote the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive; and they took flocks, and herds, and asses, and camels, and raiment; and they returned and came to Anchus.

10 Achish would say, “Against whom have you made a raid today?” David would answer, “Against the south of Judah,” or “Against the south of the Jerahmeelites,” or “Against the south of the Kenites.”

And Anchus said to David, On whom have ye made an attack to-day? And David said to Anchus, On the south of Judea, and on the south of Jesmega, and on the south of the Kenezite.

11 David would keep neither man nor woman alive to bring them to Gath, saying, “So that they cannot say about us, 'David did such and such.'” This was what he did all the while he was living in the country of the Philistines.

And I have not saved man or woman alive to bring them to Geth, saying, Lest they carry a report to Geth against us, saying, These things David does. And this was his manner all the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

12 Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; he will therefore be my servant forever.”

So David had the full confidence of Anchus, who said, He is thoroughly disgraced among his people in Israel and he shall be my servant for ever.