1 ARST But David thought,“Some day Saul will capture me if I stay around here. So the best thing that I can do is to escape and go to the region of Philistia. If I do that, Saul will stop searching for me here in Israel, and I will be safe.” BSB BSB: David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2 ARST So David and his six hundred men left Israel and went to see Maok’ s son Achish, who was king of the city of Gath in the region of Philistia. BSB BSB: So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
3 ARST David and his men and their families started to live there in Gath, the city where King Achish lived. David’ s two wives were with him— Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Nabal’ s widow Abigail, from Carmel. BSB BSB: David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.
4 ARST When Saul heard that David had run away and was living in Gath, he stopped searching for David. BSB BSB: And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5 ARST One day David said to Achish,“If you are pleased with us, give us a place in one of the small villages where we can stay. There is no need for us to stay in the city where you are the king.” BSB BSB: Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6 ARST Achish liked what David suggested. So that day Achish gave to David the town of Ziklag. As a result, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah since that time. BSB BSB: That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.
7 ARST David and his men lived in the region of Philistia for sixteen months. BSB BSB: And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.
8 ARST During that time, David and his men raided the people who lived in the areas where the Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek people groups lived. Those people had lived there from long before. That area extended south to Shur and to the border of Egypt. BSB BSB: Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)
9 ARST Whenever David’ s men attacked them, they killed all the men and women, and they took all the people’ s sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels, and even their clothes. Then they would bring those things back home, and David would go to talk to Achish. BSB BSB: Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish,
10 ARST Each time Achish would ask David,“Where did you go raiding today?” David would lie to him and sometimes say that they had gone to the southern part of Judah, and sometimes he would say that they had gone to where the Jerahmeelites lived in the south, or that he had fought against the Kenites who lived in the south. BSB BSB: who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”
11 ARST David’ s men never brought back to Gath any man or woman who was still alive. David thought,“If we do not kill everyone, some of them who are still alive they will go and tell Achish the truth about what we really did.” David did that all the time that he and his men lived in the region of Philistia. BSB BSB: David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.
12 ARST So Achish believed what David told him; he thought,“Because of what David has done, his own people, the Israelites, must now hate him very much. So he will have to stay here and serve me forever.” BSB BSB: So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.