1 Samuel 27:1-7

New English Translation

David Aligns Himself with the Philistines

27 David thought to himself,^[a] “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.”

² So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his 600 men. ³ David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families.^[b] David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. ⁴ When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him.

⁵ David 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?” ⁶ So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) ⁷ The length of time^[c] that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year^[d] and four months.