And so he used to do year after year; {whenever} she went up to the house of Yahweh, she would provoke her so that she would weep and would not eat.

And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring [them back] to Gath, thinking, "So that they will not report about us, saying, 'David did thus and so.'" Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of [the] Philistines.

And so then, listen to their voice. However, you must earnestly warn them; you must explain to them the custom of the king who will rule over them."

And so then, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant: If Yahweh has incited you against me, may he delight in an offering; but if {it is mortals}, [may] they be accursed {before} Yahweh, for they have driven me away today from sharing in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, 'Go, serve other gods!'

And so then, do not let my blood fall to the ground {away from} the presence of Yahweh, for the king of Israel has gone out to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains."

Then David {thought to himself}, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but [that] I must certainly escape to the land of [the] Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand."

The men of Ashdod saw [that] it [was] so, and they said, "The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, because his hand [is] harsh on us and on Dagon our god!"