1 Samuel 27

1Then David said in his heart, “Now I will one day perish by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should surely escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”

2So David arose and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath.

3So David stayed with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each man with his household—David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

4When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer continued to seek him.

5Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the towns in the countryside, so that I may live there. For why should your servant live with you in the royal city?”

6So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

7The number of days that David lived in the territory of the Philistines was a year and four months.

8Then David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you go to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.

9David struck the land and left alive neither man nor woman, and he took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish.

10Then Achish said, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David said, “Against the Negev of Judah, against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites, and against the Negev of the Kenites.”

11David left alive neither man nor woman to bring to Gath, saying, “Otherwise they might report about us, saying, ‘This is what David did, and this was his practice all the days that he lived in the country of the Philistines.’”

12And Achish trusted David, saying, “He has surely made himself stink among his people in Israel, so he will be my servant forever.”