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David said in his heart, “One of these days I will certainly perish by the hand of Saul. The best thing for me to do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere across the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”
2 So David set out with the six hundred men with him and went to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath. 3 David and his men stayed 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. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favour in your sight, let me be given a place in one of the country towns where I can live. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6 So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; that is why Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7 The length of time that David lived in Philistine territory was a year and four months.
8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. From ancient times these peoples had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur to the land of Egypt. 9 Whenever David attacked a district, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he returned to Achish.
10 When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would answer, “Against the Negev of Judah,” or “Against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites,” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” 11 David did not leave a man or woman alive to brought back to Gath, for he said, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did’.” This was his practice all the time he lived in the Philistine territory. 12 So Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself so totally abhorrent to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant forever.”