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.”
David said in his heart, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me except that I escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel. So shall I 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.
David arose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the 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.
So David lived with Achish, he and his men, along with his men and their families, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.
4 Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, so he looked for him no longer.
Now it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for 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?”
David said to Achish, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should 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.
So he gave him Ziklag that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.)
7 The number of days that David lived in the land of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
The number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a full year 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.
Now David and his men went up, and made a raid on the Geshurites, and the Amalekites. And look, the land was inhabited from Telem, until you come to Shur, and on toward 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.
David struck the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the cattle, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the clothing; and he returned, and came 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.”
Achish said, "Against whom have you made a raid today?" David would say, "Against the Negev of Judah," or "Against the Negev of Jerahmeel," or "Against the Negev of the Kenizzites."
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 neither man nor woman would he leave alive to be brought to Gath, thinking, "Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, 'This is what David did,'" and this has been his practice all the time he lived 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.”
Achish believed David, saying, "He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he shall be my servant forever."
