1 SamuelChapter 27
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1But David thought to himself, "One of these days Saul will kill me. The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel. And I'll get away from him." 2So David and his six hundred men set out. They went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath. 3David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him. David had his two wives with him. They were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. 4Saul was told that David had run away to Gath. So he stopped searching for him. 5Then David said to Achish, "If you are pleased with me, give me a place in one of the country towns. Let me live there. Why should I, your servant, live in the royal city with you?" 6So that day Achish gave him the town of Ziklag. It still belongs to the kings of Judah today. 7David lived in Philistine land for a year and four months. 8David and his men went up and attacked the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (Since long ago these people had lived in the land that reaches to Shur and Egypt.) 9Whenever David attacked an area, he didn't leave any man or woman alive. But he took the sheep and cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he would come back to Achish. 10Achish would ask him, "Where did you attack today?" David would answer, "The Negev of Judah." Or he would say, "The Negev of Jerahmeel," or, "The Negev of the Kenites." 11David didn't leave any man or woman alive to be brought to Gath. He said, "If we do, they'll tell on us. They'll say, 'This is what David did.'" David did this the whole time he lived in Philistine land. 12So Achish trusted David. He thought, "David has made his own people Israel hate him completely. So he'll be my servant forever."