1 Samuel 27 - Easy To Read Version

¹ But David thought to himself, “Saul will catch me some day. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel. That way I will escape from Saul.”

² So David and his 600 men left Israel. They went to Achish son of Maoch. Achish was king of Gath.

³ David, his men, and their families lived in Gath with Achish. David had his two wives with him. They were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel. Abigail was the widow [205] of Nabal.

⁴ People told Saul that David had run away to Gath. So Saul stopped looking for him.

⁵ David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with me, then give me a place in one of the country towns. I am only your servant. I should live there, not here with you in this royal city.”

⁶ That day Achish gave David the town of Ziklag. And Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.

⁷ David lived with the Philistines one year and four months.

⁸ David and his men went to fight the Amalekites and Geshurites who lived in the area from Telem near Shur all the way to Egypt. David’s men defeated them and took their wealth.

⁹ David defeated the people in that area. David took all their sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothes and brought them back to Achish. But David didn’t let any of those people live.

¹⁰ David did this many times. Each time Achish asked David where he fought and took those things. David said, “I fought against the southern part of Judah,” or “I fought against the southern part of Jerahmeel,” or “I fought against the southern part of the Kenizzites.” [206]

¹¹ David never brought a man or woman alive to Gath. David thought, “{If we let any person live,} that person might tell {Achish} what I really did!”

¹² Achish began to trust David. Achish said to himself, “Now David’s own people hate him. The Israelites hate David very much. Now David will serve me forever.”