1 Samuel 29

¹And the Philistines gather all their camps to Aphek, and the Israelites are encamping at a fountain which is in Jezreel, ²and the princes of the Philistines are passing on by hundreds, and by thousands, and David and his men are passing on in the rear with Achish. ³And the heads of the Philistines say, ‘What are these Hebrews?’ and Achish saith unto the heads of the Philistines, ‘Is not this David servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have not found in him anything wrong from the day of his falling away till this day.’ ⁴And the heads of the Philistines are wroth against him, and the heads of the Philistines say to him, ‘Send back the man, and he doth turn back unto his place whither thou hast appointed him, and doth not go down with us into battle, and is not to us for an adversary in battle; and wherewith doth this one reconcile himself unto his lord—is it not with the heads of those men?’ ⁵Is not this David, of whom they answer in choruses, saying, Saul hath smitten among his thousands, and David among his myriads?’

⁶And Achish calleth unto David, and saith unto him, ‘Jehovah liveth, surely thou art upright, and good in mine eyes is thy going out, and thy coming in, with me in the camp, for I have not found in thee evil from the day of thy coming in unto me till this day; and in the eyes of the princes thou art not good; ⁷and now, turn back, and go in peace, and thou dost do no evil in the eyes of the princes of the Philistines.’ ⁸And David saith unto Achish, ‘But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant from the day that I have been before thee till this day—that I go not in and have fought against the enemies of my lord the king?’ ⁹And Achish answereth and saith unto David, ‘I have known that thou art good in mine eyes as a messenger of God; only, the princes of the Philistines have said, He doth not go up with us into battle; ¹⁰and now, rise thou early in the morning, and the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, when ye have risen early in the morning, and have light, then go ye.’ ¹¹And David riseth early, he and his men, to go in the morning, to turn back unto the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines have gone up to Jezreel.

Chapter 30