The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 But David said to himself, "One day Sha'ul will sweep me away. The best thing for me to do is to escape into the territory of the P'lishtim. Then Sha'ul will give up trying to find me here or there in Isra'el's territory, and at last I'll be free of him."
1
And David said to himself, Some day death will come to me by the hand of Saul: the only thing for me to do is to get away into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will give up hope of taking me in any part of the land of Israel: and so I may be able to get away from him.
2 So David set out with his six hundred men and passed on to Akhish the son of Ma'okh, king of Gat.
2
So David and the six hundred men who were with him went over to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3 David lived with Akhish, he and his men, each man with his household - including David with his two wives Achino'am from Yizre'el and Avigayil from Karmel, Naval's widow.
3
And David and his men were living with Achish at Gath; every man had his family with him, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, who had been the wife of Nabal.
4 Sha'ul was told that David had escaped to Gat, whereupon he stopped searching for him.
4
And Saul, hearing that David had gone to Gath, went after him no longer.
5 David said to Akhish, "If you are now favorably disposed toward me, let me have a place to live in one of the cities in the countryside. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?"
5
Then David said to Achish, If now I have grace in your eyes, let me have a place in one of the smaller towns of your land, to be my living-place; for it is not right for your servant to be living with you in the king's town.
6 That very day Akhish gave him Ziklag, and that's why to this day Ziklag belongs to the kings of Y'hudah.
6
So Achish straight away gave him Ziklag: and for that reason Ziklag has been the property of the kings of Judah to this day.
7 After David had been living in the country of the P'lishtim for a year and four months,
7
And David was living in the land of the Philistines for the space of a year and four months.
8 he and his men began going up and raiding the G'shuri, the Gizri and the 'Amaleki (from ancient times these people had lived in the land in the direction of Shur, all the way to Egypt).
8
And David and his men went up and made attacks on the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for these were the people who were living in the land from Telam on the way to Shur, as far as Egypt.
9 David would attack the land, leaving alive neither men nor women, but taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothing. Then he would return and go to Akhish.
9
And David again and again made attacks on the land till not a man or a woman was still living; and he took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing; and he came back to Achish.
10 Akhish would ask, "Where were you raiding today?" and David would answer, "Against the Negev of Y'hudah," or "Against the Negev of the Yerachme'eli," or "Against the Negev of the Keni."
10
And every time Achish said, Where have you been fighting today? David said, Against the South of Judah and the South of the Jerahmeelites and the South of the Kenites.
11 The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gat is that he thought, "We don't want them telling on us, saying, 'David did so-and-so.'" That's how he conducted his raids for as long as he lived in the country of the P'lishtim.
11
Not one living man or woman did David ever take back with him to Gath, fearing that they might give an account of what had taken place, and say, This is what David did, and so has he been doing all the time while he has been living in the land of the Philistines.
12 And Akhish believed him; he said, "David has caused his own people Isra'el to despise him utterly; he will be my servant forever."
12
And Achish had belief in what David said, saying, He has made himself hated by all his people Israel, and so he will be my servant for ever.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.