1And David said in his heart, “Now I will be swept away one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape at once to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of me, of seeking me any longer within all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”
2So David arose and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, David and his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow.
4And it was told to Saul that David had fled to Gath, and he did not seek him any longer.
5And David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”
6So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.
7And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
8And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as you come to Shur and as far as the land of Egypt.
9And David struck the land and would leave alive neither man nor woman, and he took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing, and then returned and came back to Achish.
10And Achish said, “Have you not raided today?” And David said, “Against the Negeb of Judah, and against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites, and against the Negeb of the Kenites.”
11And David would leave alive neither man nor woman to bring to Gath, thinking, “Lest they inform on us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice all the days that he dwelt in the country of the Philistines.
12And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has surely made himself utterly odious to his own people, to Israel; so he will be my servant forever.”
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