Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rear guard with Achish.
Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which has been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell to me to this day?
And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which you have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for with which should he reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?
Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
Then Achish called David, and said to him, Surely, as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day: nevertheless the lords favor you not.
Why now return, and go in peace, that you displease not the lords of the Philistines.
And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what have you found in your servant so long as I have been with you to this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
And Achish answered and said to David, I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
Why now rise up early in the morning with your master's servants that are come with you: and as soon as you be up early in the morning, and have light, depart.
So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Canonical academic citations for 1 Samuel 29 (AKJV) — copy in your preferred format.
1 Samuel 29 (AKJV). Prime Bible, accessed July 27, 2026. https://primebible.com/akjv/1-samuel/29.
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Philistine lords distrust David; Achish sends him back to Ziklag.
Transition from the era of judges to the monarchy.
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