David Among the Philistines
1But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. 3David 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. 4When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
8Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) 9Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.
10When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” 11He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’ ” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
大卫投奔非利士人
1大卫心里想：“终有一天，我会死在扫罗手里，我最好逃到非利士人那里。这样，扫罗就不会在以色列到处追捕我了，我便可以逃离他的手。” 2于是，大卫率领他的六百个随从去投靠玛俄的儿子迦特王亚吉。 3他部下的家眷和他的两位妻子耶斯列人亚希暖和拿八的遗孀迦密人亚比该也跟他一同住在迦特王亚吉那里。 4扫罗听到这个消息，就不再追捕他了。 5大卫对亚吉说：“如果你开恩，就让我到郊野的一个城邑去住吧，何必让仆人与王一同住在都城呢？” 6亚吉当天把洗革拉赐给他，因此那地方至今仍属犹大王。 7大卫在非利士人的地方共住了一年零四个月。 8他率领部下袭击基述人、基色人和亚玛力人，这些人自古以来就住在远至书珥和埃及一带的地方。 9大卫攻打那一带，杀死所有的人，抢走牛、羊、驴、骆驼和衣物，回去见亚吉。 10当亚吉问：“你们今天攻打了哪里？”大卫会说：“攻打了犹大南部”，或说：“攻打了耶拉篾南部”，或说：“攻打了基尼南部。” 11大卫把那地方的人都杀掉，一个也不带到迦特，因为他害怕他们会泄露真相。大卫在非利士人那里居住的时候，常常这样做。 12亚吉相信了大卫的话，心里想：“以色列人恨透了大卫，他必永远做我的仆人。”
