| Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1David said to himself, "One of these days I'll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I'll escape from him." | 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." |
| 2So David set out with his six hundred men and went over to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath. | 2So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men. |
| 3David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. | 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. |
| 4When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. | 4When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him. |
| 5Now David said to Achish, "If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?" | 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?" |
| 6That day Achish gave Ziklag to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today. | 6So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) |
| 7The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months. | 7The length of time that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year and four months. |
| 8David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur as far as the land of Egypt. | 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.) |
| 9Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he came back to Achish, | 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. |
| 10who inquired, "Where did you raid today?" David replied, "The south country of Judah," "The south country of the Jerahmeelites," or "The south country of the Kenites." | 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." |
| 11David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, "Or they will inform on us and say, 'This is what David did.'" This was David's custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory. | 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. |
| 12So Achish trusted David, thinking, "Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever." | 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." |
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