1 Samuel 27

English TL (The Living Bible) (1971)

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1But David kept thinking to himself, “Some day Saul is going to get me. I'll try my luck among the Philistines until Saul gives up and quits hunting for me; then I will finally be safe again.“

2So David took his six hundred men and their families to live at Gath under the protection of King Achish.

3He had his two wives with him—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.

4Word soon reached Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he quit hunting for him.

5One day David said to Achish, “My lord, if it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.“

6So Achish gave him Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day),

7and they lived there among the Philistines for a year and four months.

8He and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur along the road to Egypt ever since ancient times.

9They didn't leave one person alive in the villages they hit and took for themselves the sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning to their homes.

10“Where did you make your raid today?“ Achish would ask. And David would reply, “Against the south of Judah and the people of Jerahmeel and the Kenites.“

11No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines.

12Achish believed David and thought that the people of Israel must hate him bitterly by now. “Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!“ the king thought.

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