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.

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Footnotes

aLiterally “said to his heart”
bOr “family”
cLiterally “the Jezreelitess”
dLiterally “he does Qere did not again to seek him longer”
eLiterally “towns of the open field”
fLiterally “the city of the king”