1 Samuel 27
27
David Lives among the Philistines
1And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. 2And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Ma´och, king of Gath. 3And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahin´o-am the Jez´reelitess, and Ab´igail the Car´melitess, Nabal's wife. 4And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.
5And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? 6Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. 7And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
8And David and his men went up, and invaded the Gesh´urites, and the Gezrites, and the Amal´ekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. 9And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. 10And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road today? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerah´meelites, and against the south of the Kenites. 11And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines. 12And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
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1 Samuel 27: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
1 Samuel 27
27
David Lives With the Philistines
1But David thought to himself, “Saul will catch me some day. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel. That way I will escape from Saul.”
2So David and his 600 men left Israel and went to Achish son of Maoch. Achish was king of Gath. 3David, his men, and their families lived in Gath with Achish. David had his two wives with him—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel. Abigail was the widow of Nabal. 4People told Saul that David had run away to Gath, so Saul stopped looking for him.
5David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with me, give me a place in one of the country towns. I am only your servant. I should live there, not here with you in this royal city.”
6That day Achish gave David the town of Ziklag. And Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7David lived with the Philistines one year and four months.
David Fools King Achish
8David and his men went to fight the Amalekites and Geshurites who lived in the area from Telem#27:8 Telem This is found in copies of the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “long ago.” near Shur all the way to Egypt. David’s men defeated them and took their wealth. 9David defeated the people in that area. He took all their sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothes and brought them back to Achish. But David didn’t let any of those people live.
10David did this many times. Each time Achish asked David where he fought and took those things. David said, “I fought against the southern part of Judah,” or “I fought against the southern part of Jerahmeel,” or “I fought against the southern part of the Kenizzites.”#27:10 Judah, Jerahmeel, Kenizzites All these places belonged to Israel. David made Achish think he had fought against his own people, the Israelites. 11David never brought a man or woman alive to Gath. He thought, “If we let anyone live, they might tell Achish what I really did.”
David did this all the time he lived in the Philistine land. 12Achish began to trust David and said to himself, “Now David’s own people hate him. The Israelites hate him very much. Now he will serve me forever.”
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