1 Samuel 27 Parallel Bible Translations

1 Samuel 27 ▼
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1 David said to himself, |One of these days Saul will sweep me away. The best thing for me to do is to make sure that I escape to Philistine territory. Then Saul will give up looking all over Israel for me, and I'll escape from him.| Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2 So David went with his 600 men to King Achish of Gath, Moach's son. So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath.
3 David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each one had his family, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail (who had been Nabal's wife) from Carmel. And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.
4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he didn't search for him anymore. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5 David said to Achish, |If you will permit me, let me have a place in one of the outlying towns so that I can live there. Why should I live in the royal city with you?| Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6 So Achish immediately gave him Ziklag. (This is why Ziklag still belongs to the kings of Judah today.) So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.
7 David stayed in Philistine territory for one year and four months. And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
8 Then David and his men went to raid the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They lived in the territory which extends from Telaim to Shur and Egypt.) Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)
9 Whenever David attacked the territory, he left no man or woman alive. He also took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and returned to Achish. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.
10 Achish would ask, |Whom did you raid today?| And David would answer, |the Negev in Judah,| or |the portion of the Negev where the descendants of Jerahmeel live,| or |the portion of the Negev where the Kenites live.| When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.”
11 He did not bring a single man or woman back to Gath alive. He thought, |They could tell Achish what I [really] did.| This was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory.
12 And Achish believed David. Achish thought, |He has definitely made his own people in Israel despise him. He'll be my servant from now on.| And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.” Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
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