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10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying,

Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands?

12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and [a]scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. 14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 21:13 Or, made marks

David at Gath

10 That day David fled from Saul and went(A) to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:

“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
    and David his tens of thousands’?”(B)

12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane(C) in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

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