1 Samuel 29
29
The Philistines Distrust David
1Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. 2And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. 3Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? 4And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? 5#1 Sam 18.7; 21.11. Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying,
Saul slew his thousands,
and David his ten thousands?
6Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not. 7Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. 8And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 9And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. 10Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. 11So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
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1 Samuel 29: 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 29
29
The Philistines Send David Back
1The Philistines had brought their whole army to Aphek,#29.1 Aphek: The events of chapter 29 probably took place as the Philistine army was on its way to Shunem, which they reached in 28.4. while Israel's army was camping near Jezreel Spring. 2-3The Philistine rulers and their troops were marching past the Philistine army commanders in groups of 100 and 1,000. When David and his men marched by at the end with Achish, the commanders said, “What are these worthless Israelites doing here?”
“They are David's men,” Achish answered. “David used to be one of Saul's officers, but he left Saul and joined my army a long time ago. I've never had even one complaint about him.”
4The Philistine army commanders were angry and shouted:
Send David back to the town you gave him. We won't have him going into the battle with us. He could turn and fight against us! Saul would take David back as an officer if David brought him the heads of our soldiers. 5#1 S 18.7; 21.11. The Israelites even dance and sing,
“Saul has killed
a thousand enemies;
David has killed
ten thousand!”
6Achish called David over and said:
I swear by the living Lord that you've been honest with me, and I want you to fight by my side. I don't think you've done anything wrong from the day you joined me until this very moment. But the other Philistine rulers don't want you to come along. 7Go on back home and try not to upset them.
8“But what have I done?” David asked. “Do you know of anything I've ever done that would keep me from fighting the enemies of my king?”#29.8 my king: David may be referring to either Saul or Achish.
9Achish said:
I believe that you're as good as an angel of God, but our army commanders have decided that you can't fight in this battle. 10You and your troops will have to go back to the town I gave you.#29.10 go … you: One ancient translation; these words are not in the Hebrew text. Get up and leave tomorrow morning as soon as it's light. I'm pleased with you, so don't let any of this bother you.#29.10 I'm pleased … bother you: One ancient translation; these words are not in the Hebrew text.
11David and his men got up early in the morning and headed back toward Philistia, while the Philistines left for Jezreel.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.