¹³and changeth his behaviour before their eyes, and feigneth himself mad in their hand, and scribbleth on the doors of the gate, and letteth down his spittle unto his beard. ¹⁴And Achish saith unto his servants, ‘Lo, ye see a man acting as a madman; why do ye bring him in unto me? ¹⁵A lack of madmen have I, that ye have brought in this one to act as a madman by me! doth this one come in unto my house?’

Chapter 22

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ESVEnglish Standard Version

So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

so he pretended to be insane in their presence. He acted like a madman around them, scribbling on the doors of the city gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

“Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me? Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house?”

NLTNew Living Translation

So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.

Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be mad in their presence. He made scratches on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down into his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see a madman! Why did you bring him to me? Do I lack madmen that you have brought this one to act like a madman before me? Should this one enter my household?”

KJV 1900King James Version

And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

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