1 Samuel 27
1 Et David dit en son cœur: Maintenant, je périrai un jour par la main de Saül; il n’y a rien de bon pour moi que de me sauver en hâte dans le pays des Philistins, et Saül renoncera à me chercher encore dans tous les confins d’Israël, et j’échapperai à sa main.
But David thought, “Some day Saul will capture me [if I stay around here]. So the best thing that I can do is to escape and go to the Philistia area. If I do that, Saul will stop searching for me here in Israel, and I will be safe.”
2 Et David se leva et passa, lui et 600 hommes qui étaient avec lui, vers Akish, fils de Maoc, roi de Gath.
So David and his 600 men left Israel and went to see Maoch’s son Achish, who was king of Gath [city in the Philistia area].
3 Et David habita chez Akish, à Gath, lui et ses hommes, chacun avec sa famille, David et ses deux femmes, Akhinoam, la Jizreélite, et Abigaïl, femme de Nabal, la Carmélite.
David and his men and their families started to live there in Gath, the city where king Achish lived. David’s two wives were with him—Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Nabal’s widow Abigail, from Carmel.
4 Et on rapporta à Saül que David s’était enfui à Gath; et il ne le chercha plus.
When someone told Saul that David had run away [and was living] in Gath, he stopped searching for David.
5 Et David dit à Akish: Je te prie, si j’ai trouvé grâce à tes yeux, qu’on me donne un lieu dans l’une des villes de la campagne, et je demeurerai là; car pourquoi ton serviteur habiterait-il dans la ville royale avec toi?
[One day] David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with us, give us a place in one of the small villages where we can stay. There is no need [RHQ] for us to stay in the city where you are the king.”
6 Et, en ce jour-là, Akish lui donna Tsiklag; c’est pourquoi Tsiklag appartient aux rois de Juda jusqu’à ce jour.
[Achish liked what David suggested]. So that day Achish gave to David Ziklag [town]. As a result, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah since that time.
7 Et le nombre des jours que David habita dans la campagne des Philistins fut d’un an et quatre mois.
David [and his men] lived in the Philistia area for 16 months.
8 Et David et ses hommes montèrent et firent des incursions chez les Gueshuriens, et les Guirziens, et les Amalékites; car ces [nations], dès les temps anciens, habitaient le pays, quand tu viens vers Shur et jusqu’au pays d’Égypte.
[During that time] David and his men raided the people who lived [in the areas] where the Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek people-groups lived. Those people had lived there a long time. That area extended [south] from Telam to the Shur [Desert] and to [the border of] Egypt.
9 Et David frappa le pays; et il ne laissait vivre ni homme ni femme, et il prenait le menu et le gros bétail, et les ânes, et les chameaux, et les vêtements; et il s’en retournait et venait vers Akish.
Whenever David’s men attacked them, they killed all the men and women, and they took all the people’s sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels, and even their clothes. Then they would bring those things back home, [and David would go to talk] to Achish.
10 Et Akish disait: N’avez-vous pas fait d’incursion aujourd’hui? Et David disait: Vers le midi de Juda, et vers le midi des Jerakhmeélites, et vers le midi des Kéniens.
Each time Achish would ask David, “Where did you go raiding today?” David [would lie to him]. Sometimes he would reply that they had gone to the southern part of Judah, and sometimes he would say that they had gone to Jerahmeel, or to the area where the Ken people-group lived.
11 Et David ne laissait vivre ni homme ni femme pour les ramener à Gath, de peur, disait-il, qu’ils ne rapportent quelque chose contre nous, disant: Ainsi a fait David. Et telle fut sa coutume pendant tous les jours qu’il habita la campagne des Philistins.
David’s men never brought back to Gath any man or woman who was left alive. David thought, “If [we do not kill everyone, some of] them [who are still alive] will go and tell Achish [the truth] about what we really did.” David did that all the time that he [and his men] lived in the Philistia area.
12 Et Akish crut David, et disait: Il s’est mis en mauvaise odeur auprès de son peuple, auprès d’Israël, et il sera mon serviteur à toujours.
So Achish believed [what] David [told him], and said to himself, “[Because of what David has done, ] his own people, the Israelis, must now hate him very much. So he will have to [stay here and] serve me forever.”
