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1 Samuel 29:3–5

3 Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, awho has been with me these days, or rather these years, and bI have found no fault in him from the day he 1deserted to me to this day?”

4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man go back, that he may return ato his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, bor in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of 1these men?

5 “Is this not David, aof whom they sing in the dances, saying,

‘Saul has slain his thousands,

And David his ten thousands’?”

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1 Samuel 29:3–5 — The New International Version (NIV)

The commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?”

Achish replied, “Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.”

But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn’t this the David they sang about in their dances:

“ ‘Saul has slain his thousands,

and David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — English Standard Version (ESV)

the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day.” But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances,

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

and David his ten thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — New Living Translation (NLT)

But the Philistine commanders demanded, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish told them, “This is David, the servant of King Saul of Israel. He’s been with me for years, and I’ve never found a single fault in him from the day he arrived until today.”

But the Philistine commanders were angry. “Send him back to the town you’ve given him!” they demanded. “He can’t go into the battle with us. What if he turns against us in battle and becomes our adversary? Is there any better way for him to reconcile himself with his master than by handing our heads over to him? Isn’t this the same David about whom the women of Israel sing in their dances,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,

and David his ten thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?

And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.”

But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, “Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men? Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying:

‘Saul has slain his thousands,

And David his ten thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — New Century Version (NCV)

The Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish told them, “This is David. He served Saul king of Israel, but he has been with me for over a year now. I have found nothing wrong in David since the time he left Saul.”

But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send David back to the city you gave him. He cannot go with us into battle. If he does, we’ll have an enemy in our own camp. He could please his king by killing our own men. David is the one the Israelites dance and sing about, saying:

‘Saul has killed thousands of his enemies,

but David has killed tens of thousands.’ ”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — American Standard Version (ASV)

Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who hath been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away unto me unto this day? But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for wherewith should this fellow reconcile himself unto his lord? should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying,

Saul hath slain his thousands,

And David his ten thousands?

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the princes of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years, and I have found nothing in him since the day of his falling away to me to this day? But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go again to his place where thou hast appointed him, that he go not down with us to the battle, that in the battle he be not an adversary to us; for wherewith should this fellow reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul smote his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

The Philistine officers asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” 

Achish asked the Philistine officers, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me now for a year or two? I’ve found nothing wrong with him from the day he defected until now.” 

But the Philistine officers were angry with Achish. “Send the man back,” the Philistine officers told him. “Return him to the place you assigned him. He shouldn’t go with us into battle. He shouldn’t ⸤be allowed to⸥ become our enemy during the battle. Is this man going to try to regain his master’s favor? He’ll do it with the lives of our men! Isn’t this David of whom people sing in dances: 

‘Saul has defeated thousands 

but David tens of thousands’?” 

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Then the Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish answered the Philistine commanders, “That is David, servant of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me a considerable period of time. From the day he defected until today, I’ve found no fault with him.”

The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle. What better way could he regain his master’s favor than with the heads of our men? Isn’t this the David they sing about during their dances:

Saul has killed his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands?”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years? Since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day.” But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him; and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, so that he may return to the place that you have assigned to him; he shall not go down with us to battle, or else he may become an adversary to us in the battle. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Is this not David, of whom they sing to one another in dances,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,

and David his ten thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me for days and years? I have not found anything threatening in him from the day of his desertion until this day!” But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, “Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men? Is this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,

but David his ten thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:3–5 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The commanders of the Philistines asked, “Why are these Hebrews here?”

Achish replied, “That’s David, isn’t it? Wasn’t he an officer of Saul, the king of Israel? He has already been with me for more than a year. I haven’t found any fault in him. That’s been true from the day he left Saul until now.”

But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish. They said, “Send David back. Let him return to the town you gave him. He must not go with us into battle. If he does, he’ll turn against us during the fighting. In fact, he might even cut off the heads of our own men. What better way could he choose to win back his master’s favor? Isn’t David the one the Israelites sang about when they danced? They sang,

“ ‘Saul has killed thousands of men.

David has killed tens of thousands.’ ”


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