1David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be killed by Saul. The best thing for me to do is escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me anywhere in Israel, and I will escape his grasp.”
2So David and the six hundred men with him got up and crossed over to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
3David lived with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each man with his family, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s wife.
4When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, please give me a place in one of the country towns where I can live. Why should your servant live with you in the royal city?”
6So that day Achish gave him Ziklag, which is why Ziklag still belongs to the kings of Judah today.
7The number of days David lived in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.
8David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, because these people had lived in that land for a long time, on the way to Shur and even to the land of Egypt.
9David attacked the land, leaving no man or woman alive. He took their sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he returned to Achish.
10Achish asked, “Who did you raid today?” David replied, “The southern part of Judah, the southern part of the Jerahmeelites, and the southern part of the Kenites.”
11David didn't leave any man or woman alive to bring back to Gath, because he thought, “If they are alive, they might tell on us and say, ‘David did this, and this is how he has acted the whole time he’s been living in the Philistine country.’”
12Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his own people in Israel hate him completely. So he will be my servant forever.”