1 Samuel 29

1-2 The Philistines mustered all their troops at Aphek. Meanwhile Israel had made camp at the spring at Jezreel. As the Philistine warlords marched forward by regiments and divisions, David and his men were bringing up the rear with Achish.

3  The Philistine officers said, "What business do these Hebrews have being here?"
Achish answered the officers, "Don't you recognize David, ex-servant of King Saul of Israel? He's been with me a long time. I've found nothing to be suspicious of, nothing to complain about, from the day he defected from Saul until now."

4-5  Angry with Achish, the Philistine officers said, "Send this man back to where he came from. Let him stick to his normal duties. He's not going into battle with us. He'd switch sides in the middle of the fight! What better chance to get back in favor with his master than by stabbing us in the back! Isn't this the same David they celebrate at their parties, singing, Saul kills by the thousand, David by the ten thousand!"

6-7  So Achish had to send for David and tell him, "As God lives, you've been a trusty ally—excellent in all the ways you have worked with me, beyond reproach in the ways you have conducted yourself. But the warlords don't see it that way. So it's best that you leave peacefully, now. It's not worth it, displeasing the Philistine warlords."

8  "But what have I done?" said David. "Have you had a single cause for complaint from the day I joined up with you until now? Why can't I fight against the enemies of my master the king?"

9-10  "I agree," said Achish. "You're a good man—as far as I'm concerned, God's angel! But the Philistine officers were emphatic: 'He's not to go with us into battle.' So get an early start, you and the men who came with you. As soon as you have light enough to travel, go."

11  David rose early, he and his men, and by daybreak they were on their way back to Philistine country. The Philistines went on to Jezreel.

1 Samuel 29

David Is Rejected by the Philistine Leaders

1 The Philistines assembled all their troopst at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel.

2 When the leaders of the Philistines were passing in review at the head of their units of hundreds and thousands,t David and his men were passing in review in the rear with Achish.

3 The leaders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time?t I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!”t
4 But the leaders of the Philistines became angry with him and saidt to him, “Send the man back! Let him return to the place that you assigned him! Don’t let him go down with us into the battle, for he might becomet our adversary in the battle. What better way to please his lord than with the heads of these men?t

5 Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced,t
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands’?”
6 So Achish summoned David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are an honest man, and I am glad to have yout servingt with me in the army.t I have found no fault with you from the day that you first came to me until the present time. But in the opiniont of the leaders, you are not reliable.t

7 So turn and leavet in peace. You must not do anything that the leaders of the Philistines consider improper!”t
8 But David said to Achish, “What have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day that I first came into your presence until the present time, that I shouldn’t go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?”9 Achish replied to David, “I am convinced that you are as reliablet as the angel of God! However, the leaders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us in the battle.’

10 So get up early in the morning along with the servants of your lord who have come with you.s When you get up early in the morning, as soon as it is light enough to see, leave.”t

11 So David and his men got up early in the morning to returns to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.