David

and David hath smitten the land, and doth not keep alive man and woman, and hath taken sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and garments, and turneth back, and cometh in unto Achish.

And Achish saith, `Whither have ye pushed to-day?' and David saith, `Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and unto the south of the Kenite.'

Neither man nor woman doth David keep alive, to bring in word to Gath, saying, `Lest they declare it against us, saying, Thus hath David done, and thus is his custom all the days that he hath dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.'

And Achish believeth in David, saying, `He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.'

And it cometh to pass in those days, that the Philistines gather their camps for the war, to fight against Israel, and Achish saith unto David, `Thou dost certainly know that with me thou dost go out into the camp, thou and thy men.'

And David saith unto Achish, `Therefore--thou dost know that which thy servant dost do.' And Achish saith unto David, `Therefore--keeper of my head I do appoint thee all the days.'

And Jehovah doth for Himself as He hath spoken by my hand, and Jehovah rendeth the kingdom out of thy hand, and giveth it to thy neighbour--to David.

and the princes of the Philistines are passing on by hundreds, and by thousands, and David and his men are passing on in the rear with Achish.

And the heads of the Philistines say, `What are these Hebrews?' and Achish saith unto the heads of the Philistines, `Is not this David servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have not found in him anything wrong from the day of his falling away till this day.'

Is not this David, of whom they answer in choruses, saying, Saul hath smitten among his thousands, and David among his myriads?'

And Achish calleth unto David, and saith unto him, `Jehovah liveth, surely thou art upright, and good in mine eyes is thy going out, and thy coming in, with me in the camp, for I have not found in thee evil from the day of thy coming in unto me till this day; and in the eyes of the princes thou art not good;

And David saith unto Achish, `But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant from the day that I have been before thee till this day--that I go not in and have fought against the enemies of my lord the king?'

And Achish answereth and saith unto David, `I have known that thou art good in mine eyes as a messenger of God; only, the princes of the Philistines have said, He doth not go up with us into battle;

And David riseth early, he and his men, to go in the morning, to turn back unto the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines have gone up to Jezreel.

And it cometh to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed unto the south, and unto Ziklag, and smite Ziklag, and burn it with fire,

And David cometh in--and his men--unto the city, and lo, burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters have been taken captive!

And David lifteth up--and the people who are with him--their voice and weep, till that they have no power to weep.

And the two wives of David have been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite;

and David hath great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people hath been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David doth strengthen himself in Jehovah his God.

And David saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, `Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;' and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto David,

and David asketh at Jehovah, saying, `I pursue after this troop--do I overtake it?' And He saith to him, `Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost certainly deliver.'

And David goeth on, he and six hundred men who are with him, and they come in unto the brook of Besor, and those left have stood still,

and David pursueth, he and four hundred men, (and two hundred men stand still who have been too faint to pass over the brook of Besor),

and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, and they cause him to drink water,

And David saith to him, `Whose art thou? and whence art thou?' And he saith, `An Egyptian youth I am , servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsaketh me, for I have been sick three days,