[1] But David kept thinking to himself, “Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.”
[2] So David took his 600 men and went over and joined Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
[3] David and his men and their families settled there with Achish at Gath. David brought his two wives along with him—Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal’s widow from Carmel.
[4] Word soon reached Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he stopped hunting for him.
[5] One day David said to Achish, “If it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.”
[6] So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day),
[7] and they lived there among the Philistines for a year and four months.
[8] David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times.
[9] David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish.
[10] “Where did you make your raid today?” Achish would ask. And David would reply, “Against the south of Judah, the Jerahmeelites, and the Kenites.”
[11] No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines.
[12] Achish believed David and thought to himself, “By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!”