Saul Consults a Medium

28 Now ^(A)it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

The Philistines Reject David

29 Then ^(A)the Philistines gathered together all their armies ^(B)at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. ² And the ^(C)lords of the Philistines ^[a]passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but ^(D)David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. ³ Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me ^(E)these days, or these years? And to this day I have ^(F)found no fault in him since he defected to me.”

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at ^(A)Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim.

¹² So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

⁵ Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, ^[a]thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people ^(A)as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(B)Beth Aven.

⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

The Nations Remaining in the Land

3 Now these are ^(A)the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not ^[a]known any of the wars in Canaan ² (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), ³ namely, ^(B)five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to ^[b]know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.