1 Samuel 27

David Among the Philistines

27But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

²So David and the six hundred men^l with him left and went^m over to Achishⁿ son of Maok king of Gath. ³David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives:^o Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. ⁴When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

⁶So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag,^p and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. ⁷David lived^q in Philistine territory a year and four months.

⁸Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites,^r the Girzites and the Amalekites.^s (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur^t and Egypt.) ⁹Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive,^u but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

¹⁰When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel^v” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.^w” ¹¹He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’ ” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. ¹²Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious^x to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.^y”