1 Samuel 29

₁The Philistine men came together at the city of Aphek and the Israelite men put up their tents at the fountain in the town of Jezreel. ₂The leaders of the Philistines made all their men walk past them in groups. In some groups there were 100 men and in some groups there were 1 000 men. David and his men were last, walking with Achish.

₃The leaders of the Philistines asked: ‘Why are these Hebrews here?’ Achish said to the leaders: ‘This is David. He was an officer of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me for a long time and he has done nothing wrong, from the time that he went away from Saul and came to us.’ ₄But the leaders of the Philistine men were angry with Achish. They said: ‘Send David back to the place that you gave him. He may not go to war with us, because maybe he will turn_around and fight against us. His king will be very pleased with him if he brings the heads of our men to him. ₅It is this David whom they sang and danced about and said:

₆Achish called David and he said to him: ‘As sure as the Lord lives, you are a good man and I think it is right that you go with me to war, because you have done nothing wrong, from the time that you came to me, to this day. But the leaders say it is not right. They do not trust you. ₇You must please turn_around now and go back so that there can be peace. You must not do anything that the leaders of the Philistines do not like.’

₈David asked Achish: ‘What have I done wrong? Have you seen anything that I have done wrong from the time that I came to you, to this day? Why can I not go and fight against your enemies?’ ₉Achish said to David: ‘I know you have been good to me like an angel of God. But the leaders of the Philistines said you can not go with them to fight in a war. ₁₀That is why you must get up early and leave in the morning before the sun is up, all of you who left Saul and came over to me.’

₁₁Early the next morning David and his men were up and they went back to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went to the town of Jezreel.