< 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 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 David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish son of Maok, the 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 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 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 Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, so he looked for 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 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 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 that day Achish gave him Ziklag; that is why Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this very day.
And Achish gives Ziklag to him in that day, therefore Ziklag has been for the kings of Judah until 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 which David has dwelt in the field of the Philistines [is one year] of days and 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; he will therefore be my servant forever.”
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.”

< 1 Samuel 27 >