CHAPTER 27
1 And David said in his heart, Sometime I shall fall in one day in the hand of Saul (or One day I shall fall by Saul’s hand); whether it is not better, that I flee, and be saved in the land of (the) Philistines, (so) that Saul despair, and cease to seek me in all the ends of Israel; therefore flee we his hands.
2 And (so) David rose up, and went forth, he and six hundred men with him, to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3 And David dwelled with Achish in Gath, he, and his men, and his house(hold), (or And David lived with Achish in Gath, he, and his men, and his family); that is, David, and his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
4 And it was told to Saul, that David (had) fled into Gath; and he added no more that he should seek (after) David [or and he added no more for to seek him].
5 Forsooth David said to Achish, If I have found grace in thine eyes, (let) a place be given to me in one of the cities of this country, that I dwell there; for why dwelleth thy servant in the city of the king with thee? (or for why should thy servant remain with thee in the king’s city?)
6 Therefore Achish gave him Ziklag in that day (or And so Achish gave him Ziklag that day), for the which cause Ziklag was made into (a) possession of the kings of Judah unto this day.
7 And the number of days, in which David dwelled in the country of (the) Philistines, was days, that is a year, and four months.
8 And David went up, and his men, and they took preys of Geshurites, and of Gezrites, and of men of Amalek; for these towns were inhabited by (them in) eld time(s) in the land, to men going to Shur, unto the land of Egypt. (And David and his men went up, and they took prey from the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites; for these people inhabited the land in old times, unto Shur, and the land of Egypt.)
9 And David smote all the land of them, and he left not man nor woman living (or and he left no man or woman alive); and he took sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and clothes, and turned again, and came to Achish.
10 And Achish said to him, Into whom hurled ye today?/Against whom have ye hurled today? And David answered, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of Jerahmeel, and against the south of Kenites. (And Achish would say to him, Where did ye attack today? And David would answer, In the south of Judah, or In the south of Jerahmeel, or To the south of the Kenites.)
11 David left not quick man and woman (or David left no man or woman alive), neither brought (them back) into Gath, and said, Lest peradventure they speak against us. David did these things, and this was his doom, in all [the] days in which he dwelled in the country of (the) Philistines.
12 Therefore Achish believed to David (or And so Achish trusted David), and said, Certainly he hath wrought many evils against his people Israel, therefore he shall be a servant to me for evermore.