And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? and David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.

David replied, "It is my voice, your majesty." David said, "Why is your majesty pursuing his servant? For what have I done, and what evil do I bear toward you?

Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thy eyes this day: behold I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! and let one of the young men come over and take it.

Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in any border of Israel; so shall I escape from his hand.

And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess Nabal's wife.

And it was told to Saul that David had fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.

And David said to Achish, If I have now found grace in thy eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Then Achish gave David [the town of] Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.

And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.

And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to-day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.

And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should inform against us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.

And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines collected their armies for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.

And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my head for ever.

And the LORD hath done to him, as he spoke by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David:

And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rear with Achish.

Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell to me to this day?

But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and they said to him, “Make this man return, so that he may go back to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may [turn and] become our adversary. For how could David reconcile himself to his lord [Saul]? Would it not be with the heads of these [Philistine] men?

Is not this David, of whom they sung one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Then Achish called David, and said to him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee from the day of thy coming to me to this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not.

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant, so long as I have been with thee to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king.

And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

Then David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David was greatly distressed: for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons, and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind remained.

But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they made him drink water;

And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

And David said to him, Canst thou conduct me down to this company? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will lead thee down to this company.

So he took David down, and they found them spread out over the land. They were eating and drinking and enjoying themselves because of all the loot they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.

And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.

Then answered all the wicked men, and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.

Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.

And it has been so from that day forward. David established this policy as a law and an ordinance for Israel and it continues to this very day.

And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you, of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;

And to them who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to resort.