New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 David said in his heart, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines; then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand."
1
David thought to himself, "Sooner or later, Saul's going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to Philistine country. Saul will count me a lost cause and quit hunting me down in every nook and cranny of Israel. I'll be out of his reach for good."
2 So David set out and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath.
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So David left; he and his six hundred men went to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3 David stayed with Achish at Gath, he and his troops, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.
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They moved in and settled down in Gath, with Achish. Each man brought his household; David brought his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, widow of Nabal of Carmel.
4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought for him.
4
When Saul was told that David had escaped to Gath, he called off the hunt.
5 Then David said to Achish, "If I have found favor in your sight, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, so that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?"
5
Then David said to Achish, "If it's agreeable to you, assign me a place in one of the rural villages. It doesn't seem right that I, your mere servant, should be taking up space in the royal city."
6 So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.
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So Achish assigned him Ziklag. (This is how Ziklag got to be what it is now, a city of the kings of Judah.)
7 The length of time that David lived in the country of the Philistines was one year and four months.
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David lived in Philistine country a year and four months.
8 Now David and his men went up and made raids on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for these were the landed settlements from Telam on the way to Shur and on to the land of Egypt.
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From time to time David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites - these people were longtime inhabitants of the land stretching toward Shur and on to Egypt.
9 David struck the land, leaving neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing, and came back to Achish.
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When David raided an area he left no one alive, neither man nor woman, but took everything else: sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, clothing - the works. Then he'd return to Achish.
10 When Achish asked, "Against whom have you made a raid today?" David would say, "Against the Negeb of Judah," or "Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites," or, "Against the Negeb of the Kenites."
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Achish would ask, "And whom did you raid today?"
11 David left neither man nor woman alive to be brought back to Gath, thinking, "They might tell about us, and say, "David has done so and so.' " Such was his practice all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines.
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He never left a single person alive lest one show up in Gath and report what David had really been doing. This is the way David operated all the time he lived in Philistine country.
12 Achish trusted David, thinking, "He has made himself utterly abhorrent to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant."
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Achish came to trust David completely. He thought, "He's made himself so repugnant to his people that he'll be in my camp forever."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.