1David said in his heart, "One day I will die by the hand of Saul. The best thing for me is to escape quickly to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me anywhere in the land of Israel, and I will escape out of his hand."
2So David set out, and he crossed over to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath, with the six hundred men who were with him.
3David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household. David had his two wives with him: Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail from Carmel, who had been Nabal's wife.
5David said to Achish, "If I have found grace in your eyes, let me be given a place in one of the country towns, so that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?"
6So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. That is why Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
7The time David lived in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
8David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Gezrites and the Amalekites. Those nations had lived in the land from long ago, on the way to Shur, as far as the land of Egypt.
9David struck the land, and left neither man nor woman alive. He carried off the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels and the clothing, and then he went back to Achish.
10Achish said, "Where did you raid today?" David said, "Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites."
11David left neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath. He said, "They might tell about us. They might say, 'This is what David did.'" And this was his way all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines.
12Achish believed David. He said, "He has made his own people Israel hate him completely. So he will be my servant for ever."