1Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel.
2The lords of the Philistines proceeded on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men proceeded on in the rear with Achish.
3Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What about these Hebrews?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and from the day he fell in with me until this day I have found no fault in him.”
4But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man return, so that he goes back to his place, which you have assigned to him. He must not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how would this man reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men?
5Isn’t this David about whom they sang to each other as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands; David his ten thousands?’”
6Then Achish called David and said to him, “As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my eyes, for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day. But in the eyes of the Philistine lords you are not good.
7So now return, and go in peace, so that you do not do evil in the eyes of the lords of the Philistines.”
8But David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the first day that I was before you to this day, that I cannot go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
9And Achish answered David, “I know that you are good in my eyes, like an angel of God. Even so, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’
10So now rise up early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, go.”
11So David rose up early, he and his men, to go in the morning and return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
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