Bible Verses About Achish

And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis, the king of Geth:

And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth.

And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard.

And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad: why have you brought him to me?

Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

And David said in his heart: I shall one day or other fall into the hands of Saul: is it not better for me to flee, and to be saved in the land of the Philistines, that Saul may despair of me, and cease to seek me in all the coasts of Israel? I will flee then out of his hands.

And David arose, and went away, both he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achis, the son of Maoch, king of Geth.

And David dwelt with Achis at Geth, he and his men; every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and he sought no more after him.

And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy sight, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason Siceleg belongeth to the kings of Juda unto this day.

And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines, was four months.

And David and his men went up, and pillaged Gessuri, and Gerzi, and the Amalecites: for these were of old the inhabitants of the countries, as men go to Sur, even to the land of Egypt.

And David wasted all 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 Achis.

And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou gone against to day? David answered: Against the south of Juda, and against the south of Jerameel, and against the south of Ceni.

And David saved neither man nor woman, neither brought he any of them to Geth, saying: Lest they should speak against us. So did David, and such was his proceeding all the days that he dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm to his people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered together their armies, to be prepared for war against Israel: And Achis said to David: Know thou now assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to the war, thou, and thy men.

And David said to Achis: Now thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achis said to David: And I will appoint thee to guard my life for ever.

Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel.

And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis.

And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the Philistines: Do you not know David who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in him, since the day that he fled over to me until this day?

But the prices of the Philistines were angry with him, and they said to him: Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise appease his master, but with our heads?

Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?