1 Samuel 27

27 ¹ But David said to himself, "One of these days I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. Nothing is better for me than to escape at once to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere within the borders of Israel, and I will slip out of his hand." ² So David set out and crossed over, he and the six hundred men with him, to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ David stayed with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each with his household — David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. ⁴ When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵ David said to Achish, "If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be given a place in one of the country towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?" ⁶ So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; that is why Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷ The length of time David lived in Philistine territory was a year and four months.

⁸ Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites — for from ancient times these peoples had inhabited the land stretching toward Shur and as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹ Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but carried off the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing, and then returned to Achish.

¹⁰ When Achish would ask, "Where did you raid today?" David would answer, "Against the Negev of Judah," or "the Negev of the Jerahmeelites," or "the Negev of the Kenites."

¹¹ David let neither man nor woman survive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, "They might report against us and say, 'This is what David did.'" Such was his practice the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.

¹² Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He has made himself utterly detestable to his own people Israel; he will be my servant forever."