10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to ^eAchish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? ^fDid they not sing to one another of him in dances,

12 And David ^gtook these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay¹ with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5 Then the prophet ^lGad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

1 ^dNow the Philistines had gathered all their forces at ^eAphek. And the Israelites were encamped by ^fthe spring that is in ^gJezreel. 2 As ^hthe lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear ⁱwith Achish, 3 the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me ^jnow for days and years, and since he deserted to me ^kI have found no fault in him to this day.” 4 But ^hthe commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return ^lto the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, ^mlest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? 5 Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances,

6 Then Achish called David and said to him, ^o“As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that ^pyou should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. 7 So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” 8 And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” 9 And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight ^qas an angel of God. Nevertheless, ^rthe commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10 Now then rise early in the morning ^swith the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.” 11 So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to ^tJezreel.