David said to himself, "Now one day Sha'ul will sweep me away. There is no good for me, for I will escape by escaping to the land of Pelishtim, and Sha'ul will despair of me, seeking me no more in all the territory of Yisra'el, and I will escape from his hand."

David arose and crossed over, he and six hundred men who were with him, to Akish son of Ma'oḵ, king of Gat.

David stayed with Akish in Gat, he and his men, each with his household. David and his two wives: Aḥino'am the Yizre'elit and Avigayil wife of Naval the Karmelit.

They told Sha'ul that David had fled to Gat, and he no longer sought him.

David said to Akish, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the countryside towns, and I will live there. Why should your servant stay in the royal city with you?"

Akish gave him Tsiklag that day; therefore Tsiklag belonged to the kings of Yehudah to this day.

The number of days that David stayed in the territory of Pelishtim was days and four months.

David and his men went up and raided the Gesuri and Girzi and Amaleqi, for these were inhabitants of the land from ancient times, from your coming to Shurah as far as the land of Mitsrayim.

David struck the land and left no man or woman alive, and took sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels and clothing, and returned and came to Akish.

Akish said, "Against whom did you raid today?" David said, "Against the Negev of Yehudah and against the Negev of the Yerachme'eli and against the Negev of the Qeni."

David left alive neither man nor woman to bring to Gat, saying, "Lest they tell about us, saying, 'Thus David did,' and 'such was his practice all the days he stayed in the territory of Pelishtim.'"

Akish trusted David, saying, "He has made himself odious among his people in Yisra'el, and he will be my servant forever."