27 ¶ And David said in his heart, In the end I shall be killed some day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than that I should escape once and for all into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more within the borders of Israel; so shall I escape out of his hand.

² And David arose, and he went over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

³ And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, David with his two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

⁴ And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, and he sought him no more.

⁵ And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let me be given a place in one of the cities of the land that I may dwell there, for why should thy slave dwell in the royal city with thee?

⁶ Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore, Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah unto this day.

⁷ And the number of days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was four months and some days.

⁸ ¶ And David and his men went up and invaded the Geshurites and the Gezrites and the Amalekites, for these had inhabited the land for a long time, from as thou goest unto Shur even unto the land of Egypt.

⁹ And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the apparel and returned and came to Achish.

¹⁰ And Achish would say, Where have ye raided today? And David would say, Against the south of Judah and towards the Negev of the Jerahmeelites or towards the Negev of the Kenites.

¹¹ And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David. And this was his manner all the time he dwelt in the land of the Philistines.

¹² And Achish believed David, saying, He is making himself abominable unto his people of Israel; therefore, he shall be my slave for ever.

28 ¶ And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight against Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know for certain, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.

² And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy slave can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore, I will make thee keeper of my head all the days.

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah in his own city. And Saul had removed the spiritists and the diviners out of the land.

⁴ And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched camp in Shunem, and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched camp in Gilboa.

⁵ And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.

⁶ And Saul enquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams nor by Urim nor by prophets.

⁷ ¶ Then Saul said unto his slaves, Seek me a woman that is a spiritist that I may go to her and enquire of her. And his slaves said to him, Behold, there is a woman that is a spiritist at Endor.

⁸ And Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing, and he went with two men, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by spiritism and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee.

⁹ And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul has done, how he has cut off the spiritists and the diviners out of the land; why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

¹⁰ And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD lives, no iniquity shall come upon thee for this thing.

¹¹ Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul.

¹³ And the king said unto her, Do not be afraid. What didst thou see? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods rising out of the land.

¹⁴ And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man comes, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and worshipped.

¹⁵ ¶ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me and no longer answers me neither by prophets nor by dreams; therefore, I have called thee that thou may make known unto me what I shall do.

¹⁶ Then Samuel said, Why then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thy enemy?

¹⁷ The LORD, therefore, has done as he spoke by me! For the LORD has rent the kingdom out of thy hand and given it to thy neighbour, even to David.

¹⁸ Because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of the LORD nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek; therefore, the LORD has done this thing unto thee today.

¹⁹ And the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me; the LORD shall also deliver the camp of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

²⁰ ¶ Then Saul, as great as he was, fell suddenly to the earth and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day nor all that night.

²¹ And the woman came unto Saul and saw that he was sore troubled and said unto him, Behold, thy handmaid has heard thy voice, and I have put my soul in my hand and have hearkened unto thy words which thou didst speak unto me.

²² Now, therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thy handmaid and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou may have strength, and go on thy way.

²³ But he refused and said, I will not eat. But his slaves, together with the woman, compelled him, and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the ground and sat upon a bed.

²⁴ And the woman had a fat calf in the house, and she hastened and killed it and took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread with it.

²⁵ And she brought it before Saul and before his slaves, and after they ate, they rose up and went away that night.

29 ¶ Now the Philistines gathered together all their camps to Aphek, and the Israelites pitched camp by a fountain which is in Jezreel. {Heb. God scatters}

² And as the cardinals of the Philistines reviewed their companies of hundreds and of thousands, David and his men were in the rear with Achish.

³ Then the princes of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish replied unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the slave of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me these days or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?

⁴ Then the princes of the Philistines were angry with him, and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him and not come with us to the battle lest in the battle he be an adversary to us, for with what should he return to the good graces of his master than with the heads of these men?

⁵ Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands and David his ten thousands?

⁶ ¶ Then Achish called David and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD lives, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the camp is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day; nevertheless, thou art not good in the eyes of the cardinals.

⁷ Therefore, now return and go in peace that thou not do evil in the eyes of the cardinals of the Philistines.

⁸ And David replied unto Achish, But what have I done? And what hast thou found in thy slave so long as I have been with thee unto this day that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

⁹ And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight as an angel of God; notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

¹⁰ Therefore, now rise up early in the morning with thy master’s slaves that are come with thee, and as soon as ye are up early in the morning and it is light, depart.

¹¹ So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.