29:1 Now the Pelishtim gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Yisraelites pitched by a fountain which [is] in Yizre'el.
29:2 And YHWH (יהוה)s of the Pelishtim passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish.
29:3 Then said the princes of the Pelishtim, What [do] these Hebrews [here]? And Achish said unto the princes of the Pelishtim, [Is] not this David, the eved of Sha'ul the melekh of Yisrael, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell [unto me] unto this day?
29:4 And the princes of the Pelishtim were wroth with him; and the princes of the Pelishtim said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? [should it] not [be] with the heads of these men?
29:5 [Is] not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Sha'ul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
29:6 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, [as] YHWH (יהוה) 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 since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless YHWH (יהוה)s favour thee not.
29:7 Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not YHWH (יהוה)s of the Pelishtim.
29:8 And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy eved so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my master the king?
29:9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou [art] good in my sight, as an angel of Elohim (אלהים): notwithstanding the princes of the Pelishtim have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
29:10 Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's avadim that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart.
29:11 So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Pelishtim. And the Pelishtim went up to Yizre'el.