1 Samuel 27–31

David Returns to Achish

27Then David thought to himself,^a “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but that I must certainly escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand.” ²So David got up and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, the king of Gath. ³David settled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his household.^b David took along his two wives Ahinoam from Jezreel^c and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁴And it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.^d

⁵Then David said to Achish, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let them give me a place in one of the country towns^e that I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city^f with you?” ⁶So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this day.) ⁷The number of days that David lived in the countryside of the Philistines was one year and four months.

⁸Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living in the land for a long time in the direction of^g Shur and as far as^h the land of Egypt. ⁹So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep,ⁱ the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. ¹⁰And Achish said, “Against whom have you raided today?” David said, “Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites.” ¹¹And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring them back to Gath, thinking,^j “So that they will not report about us, saying, ‘David did thus and so.’ ” Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of the Philistines. ¹²And Achish trusted David, saying, “He has made himself utterly hated^k among his people in Israel, and he will be my servant forever.”

28Now^a in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “Certainly you realize that you must go out with me in the army, you and your men.” ²David said to Achish, “Very well, you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard^b for life.”

Saul Inquires of the Medium at Endor

³(Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and they had buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had expelled the mediums^c and the soothsayers from the land.) ⁴Then the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem, so Saul assembled all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. ⁵When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim^d or by the prophets. ⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Search for me a woman who is a medium^e so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “Look there is a woman who is a medium in Endor.” ⁸So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went with two of his men.^f And they came to the woman by night and he said, “Please consult a spirit for me through the ritual pit,^g and bring up for me the one whom I tell you.” ⁹But the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums^h and the soothsayers from the land! Why are you setting a trap for my life to kill me?” ¹⁰Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, “As Yahweh lives,ⁱ you will not be punished^j for this thing.” ¹¹So the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!” ¹³The king said to her, “Do not be afraid! What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god^k coming up from the ground!” ¹⁴Then he said to her, “What is his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.”^l Then Saul realized that it was Samuel, and he knelt with his face to the ground and bowed down.

¹⁵Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul said, “I am in distress!^m For the Philistines are about to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not by the prophetsⁿ or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do.” ¹⁶Then Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David. ¹⁸Because you did not obey^o Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his wrath^p against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today. ¹⁹And Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and Yahweh will also give the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” ²⁰Then Saul immediately fell prostrate^q to the ground, and he was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was no more strength in him, for he had not eaten food all day and all night. ²¹Then the woman came to Saul and realized that he was absolutely^r terrified, so she said to him, “Look, your female servant has obeyed you,^s and I have risked my life.^t I have listened to your words that you have spoken to me. ²²So then, you also please listen to the voice of your female servant, and let me set before you a morsel of bread, and you eat so that you will have strength^u in you when you go on your^v way.” ²³But he refused and said, “I will not eat!” However, his servants urged him, and the woman also. So he listened to what they said,^w and he got up from the ground and sat on the bed. ²⁴Now the woman had a fattened bull calf in the house, so she quickly slaughtered it^x and took flour, kneaded dough, and baked him some unleavened bread. ²⁵She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that very night.

David Leaves the Service of Achish

29Now the Philistines assembled all their forces at Aphek, and Israel was encamped at the spring that is in Jezreel. ²The rulers of the Philistines were passing on according to hundreds and thousands, David and his men passing on at the rear with Achish. ³Then 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?^a I have not found anything threatening in him from the day of his desertion until this day!” ⁴But 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? ⁵Is this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,

but David his ten thousands’?”

⁶So Achish called David and said to him, “As Yahweh lives,^b certainly you were honest, and I am pleased to have you marching with me^c in the campaign.^d For I have not found any wrong in you from the day you came to me until this day, but in the eyes of the rulers, you are not good. ⁷So then, return and go in peace, so that you do not do something that displeases^e the rulers of the Philistines.” ⁸Then David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day that I entered your service^f until this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹And Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are good in my eyes, like an angel of God! However, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us into the battle.’ ¹⁰So then, rise early in the morning, you and the servants of your lord who came with you. When you rise early in the morning and it is light enough for you, leave. ¹¹So David set out early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David Recovers His Loved Ones

30Now^a when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire. ²They took captive the women^b who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest.^c They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way. ³When David and his men came to the city, they saw,^d and it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep. ⁵Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel^e and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶And David was in a very precarious situation,^f for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each one over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.

⁷Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here for me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.” ⁹So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi^g Besor, but the rest…