1 but he thought to himself, “One of these days, Saul is going to kill me. The only way to escape from him is to go to Philistia. Then I'll be outside of Israel, and Saul will give up trying to catch me.”
2-3 David and his 600 men went across the border to stay in Gath with King Achish the son of Maoch. His men brought their families with them. David brought his wife Ahinoam whose hometown was Jezreel, and he also brought his wife Abigail who had been married to Nabal from Carmel. 4 When Saul found out that David had run off to Gath, he stopped trying to catch him.
5 One day, David was talking with Achish and said, “If you are happy with me, then let me live in one of the towns in the countryside. I'm not important enough to live here with you in the royal city.”
6 Achish gave David the town of Ziklag that same day, and Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.
7 David was in Philistia for a year and four months. 8 The Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites lived in the area from Telam to Shur and on as far as Egypt, and David often attacked their towns. 9 Whenever David and his men attacked a town, they took the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and the clothing, and killed everyone who lived there.
After he returned from a raid, David always went to see Achish, 10 who would ask, “Where did you attack today?”
David would answer, “Oh, we attacked some desert town that belonged to the Judah tribe.” Sometimes David would say, “Oh, we attacked a town in the desert where the Jerahmeel clan lives” or “We attacked a town in the desert where the Kenites live.” 11 That's why David killed everyone in the towns he attacked. He thought, “If I let any of them live, they might come to Gath and tell what I've really been doing.”
David made these raids all the time he was in Philistia. 12 But Achish trusted David and thought, “David's people must be furious with him. From now on he will have to take orders from me.”
داود عند الفلسطيِّين
1 وقالَ داوُدُ في قلبهِ: «سأهلِكُ يوما بـيَدِ شاوُلَ، فخَيرٌ لي أنْ أهرُبَ إلى أرض الفلِسطيِّينَ، فيَيأسَ مني ولا يعودَ يـبحَثُ عنِّي في أرضِ إِسرائيلَ، وأنجو بنفْسي مِنْ يَدِهِ». 2 وعبرَ داوُدُ هوَ والستُّ مئةِ رجلٍ الّذينَ معَهُ، إلى أخيشَ بنِ معوكَ مَلكِ جَتَّ. 3 وأقامَ داوُدُ عِندَ أخيشَ بِـجَتَّ هوَ ورجالُهُ، كُلُّ واحدٍ معَ أهلِ بَيتِهِ، وداوُدُ معَ امرأتَيهِ أخينوعمَ الّتي مِنْ يزرعيلَ وأبـيجايلَ الّتي كانت زوجَةَ نابالَ في الكَرمَلِ. 4 وقيلَ لشاوُلَ إنَّ داوُدَ هرَبَ إلى جتَّ، فتوقَّفَ عَنْ مُطاردَتِه. 5 وقالَ داوُدُ لأخيشَ: «إنْ كنتُ أنعَمُ بِرضاكَ، فأعطِني مكانا في إحدى قُرى البَرِّيَّةِ لأسكنَ فيهِ. فلِماذا أسكنُ يا سيِّدي المَلِكُ في المدينةِ معَكَ؟» 6 فأعطاهُ أخيشُ في ذلِكَ اليومِ صِقلغَ الّتي صارت لمُلوكِ يَهوذا إلى هذا اليومِ. 7 وسكنَ داوُدُ في بلادِ الفلِسطيِّينَ سنَةً وأربعَةَ أشهرٍ.
8 وكانَ داوُدُ يخرُجُ هوَ ورجالُهُ ويَغزونَ الجَشوريِّينَ والجَرْزِّيِّينَ والعماليقيِّينَ، وهُم قبائلُ سكنتِ الأرضَ في قديمِ الزَّمانِ مِنْ حُدودِ شورَإلى أرضِ مِصْرَ. 9 وكانَ داوُدُ يَغزو البلادَ فلا يُبقي على رَجلٍ ولا امرأةٍ، ويأخذُ الغنَمَ والبقَرَ والحميرَ والجِمالَ والثِّيابَ ويرجعُ إلى أخيشَ. 10 فيسألُهُ أخيشُ: «أينَ غزوتُمُ اليومَ؟» فيُجيـبُه داوُدُ: «في جنوبـيِّ يَهوذا، وجنوبـيِّ اليرحَمئيليِّينَ، وجنوبـيِّ القَينيِّينَ». 11 ولم يَكنْ داوُدُ يأتي بأُناسٍ أحياءَ إلى جَتَّ لِئلاَّ يُخبروا ويقولوا: فَعلَ داوُدُ كذا وكذا. وكانَت هذِهِ عادتُهُ مُدَّةَ إقامتِهِ في أراضي الفلِسطيِّين. 12 وكانَ أخيشُ يُصدِّقُ داوُدَ ويقولُ في نفْسِهِ: «جعَلَ نفْسَهُ مكروها لدى شعبِهِ إِسرائيلَ، فسيكونُ عبدا لي إلى الأبدِ».
