| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1David thought to himself, "One of these days I'm going to be swept away 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 searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand." | 1David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.” |
| 2So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men. | 2So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath. |
| 3David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families. David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal's widow. | 3David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. |
| 4When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him. | 4And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. |
| 5David said to Achish, "If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?" | 5Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” |
| 6So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) | 6That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah. |
| 7The length of time that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year and four months. | 7And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months. |
| 8Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) | 8Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) |
| 9When David would attack a district, he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish. | 9Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish, |
| 10When Achish would ask, "Where did you raid today?" David would say, "The Negev of Judah" or "The Negev of Jeharmeel" or "The Negev of the Kenites." | 10who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” |
| 11Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, "This way they can't tell on us, saying, 'This is what David did.'" Such was his practice the entire time that he lived in the country of the Philistines. | 11David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’ ” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory. |
| 12So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself, "He is really hated among his own people in Israel! From now on he will be my servant." | 12So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.” |
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