¹ And David saith unto his heart, `Now am I consumed one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing for me better than that I diligently escape unto the land of the Philistines, and Saul hath been despairing of me -- of seeking me any more in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.'

² And David riseth, and passeth over, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, unto Achish son of Maoch king of Gath;

³ and David dwelleth with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, [even] David and his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelitess.

⁴ And it is declared to Saul that David hath fled to Gath, and he hath not added any more to seek him.

⁵ And David saith unto Achish, `If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, they give to me a place in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, yea, why doth thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?'

⁶ And Achish giveth to him in that day Ziklag, therefore hath Ziklag been to the kings of Judah till this day.

⁷ And the number of the days which David hath dwelt in the field of the Philistines [is] days and four months;

⁸ and David goeth up and his men, and they push unto the Geshurite, and the Gerizite, and the Amalekite, (for they are inhabitants of the land from of old), as thou comest in to Shur and unto the land of Egypt,

⁹ and David hath smitten the land, and doth not keep alive man and woman, and hath taken sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and garments, and turneth back, and cometh in unto Achish.

¹⁰ And Achish saith, `Whither have ye pushed to-day?' and David saith, `Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and unto the south of the Kenite.'

¹¹ Neither man nor woman doth David keep alive, to bring in [word] to Gath, saying, `Lest they declare [it] against us, saying, Thus hath David done, and thus [is] his custom all the days that he hath dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.'

¹² And Achish believeth in David, saying, `He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.'

¹ Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

² The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

³ When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

⁴ When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [lay] cut off on the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him.

⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.

⁶ But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.

⁷ When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us; for his hand is severe on us, and on Dagon our God."

⁸ They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" They answered, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried over to Gath." They carried the ark of the God of Israel [there].

⁹ It was so, that after they had carried it about, the hand of Yahweh was against the city with a very great confusion: and he struck the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰ So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. It happened, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people."

¹¹ They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly confusion throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

¹² The men who didn't die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.