1Samuel 27

27David thought to himself, "Sooner or later, Saul's going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to Philistine country. Saul will count me a lost cause and quit hunting me down in every nook and cranny of Israel. I'll be out of his reach for good."H1732H559H3820H5595H259H3117H3027H7586H2896H3588H4422H4422H776H6430H7586H2976H1245H1366H3478H4422H30272So David left; he and his six hundred men went to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath.H1732H6965H5674H8337H3967H376H397H1121H4582H4428H16613They moved in and settled down in Gath, with Achish. Each man brought his household; David brought his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, widow of Nabal of Carmel.H1732H3427H397H1661H582H376H1004H1732H8147H802H293H3159H26H3762H5037H8024When Saul was told that David had escaped to Gath, he called off the hunt.H5046H7586H1732H1272H1661H1245H3254H32545Then David said to Achish, "If it's agreeable to you, assign me a place in one of the rural villages. It doesn't seem right that I, your mere servant, should be taking up space in the royal city."H1732H559H397H4672H2580H5869H5414H4725H259H5892H7704H3427H5650H3427H4467H58926So Achish assigned him Ziklag. (This is how Ziklag got to be what it is now, a city of the kings of Judah.)H397H5414H6860H3117H6860H4428H3063H31177David lived in Philistine country a year and four months.H4557H3117H1732H3427H7704H6430H3117H702H23208From time to time David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—these people were longtime inhabitants of the land stretching toward Shur and on to Egypt.H1732H582H5927H6584H1651H1511H6003H2007H5769H3427H776H935H7793H776H47149When David raided an area he left no one alive, neither man nor woman, but took everything else: sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, clothing—the works. Then he'd return to Achish.H1732H5221H776H376H802H2421H3947H6629H1241H2543H1581H899H7725H935H39710Achish would ask, "And whom did you raid today?" David would tell him, "Oh, the Negev of Judah," or "The Negev of Jerahmeel," or "The Negev of the Kenites."H397H559H408H6584H3117H1732H559H5045H3063H5045H3397H5045H701711He never left a single person alive lest one show up in Gath and report what David had really been doing. This is the way David operated all the time he lived in Philistine country.H1732H2421H376H802H2421H935H1661H559H5046H559H6213H1732H4941H3117H3427H7704H643012Achish came to trust David completely. He thought, "He's made himself so repugnant to his people that he'll be in my camp forever."H397H539H1732H559H5971H3478H887H887H5650H5769