1 Samuel 27

1 But David said to himself, “One of these days Saul is going to get me. I think I'd better run away to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me all over Israel and he won't catch me.”

David said in his heart, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me except that I escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel. So shall I escape out of his hand."

2 So David and the six hundred men with him set off, crossed the border, and went to Achish, son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

David arose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

3 David and his men settled down with Achish in Gath. All the men had their families with them, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel, Nabal's widow.

So David lived with Achish, he and his men, along with his men and their families, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.

4 When Saul found out that David had run away to Gath, he didn't go on looking for him.

Now it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.

5 David said to Achish, “Please do me a favor: assign me somewhere in one of the towns in the countryside so I can live there. I, your servant, don't really deserve to live in the royal city with you.”

David said to Achish, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?"

6 Achish gave him Ziklag right away, and the town still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.

So he gave him Ziklag that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.)

7 David lived in the country of the Philistines for a year and four months.

The number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

8 During that time David and his men were raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. These people had lived in the land as far as Shur and Egypt from ancient times.

Now David and his men went up, and made a raid on the Geshurites, and the Amalekites. And look, the land was inhabited from Telem, until you come to Shur, and on toward Egypt.

9 When David attacked a place, he did not leave anybody alive. He took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would go back to Achish.

David struck the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the cattle, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the clothing; and he returned, and came to Achish.

10 When Achish asked him, “Where have you been raiding today?” David would reply, “In the desert of Judah,” or “the desert of Jerahmeel,” or “the desert of the Kenites.”

Achish said, "Against whom have you made a raid today?" David would say, "Against the Negev of Judah," or "Against the Negev of Jerahmeel," or "Against the Negev of the Kenizzites."

11 David didn't leave anybody alive that could come to Gath because he thought, “They might tell on us and say, ‘David did this.’” This is what he did all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines.

And neither man nor woman would he leave alive to be brought to Gath, thinking, "Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, 'This is what David did,'" and this has been his practice all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines.

12 Achish trusted David, and said to himself, “He's made himself so offensive to his people the Israelites that he'll have to serve me forever.”

Achish believed David, saying, "He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he shall be my servant forever."