1 Samuel 21:10-15

Other Translations of 1 Samuel 21:10-15

King James Version

¹⁰ And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? ¹² And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled scrabbled: or, made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. ¹⁴ Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: is mad: or, playeth the mad man wherefore then have ye brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

English Standard Version

¹⁰ And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?" ¹² And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, "Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?"

The Message

¹⁰ "Oh," said David, "there's no sword like that! Give it to me!" ¹¹ When the servants of Achish saw him, they said, "Can this be David, the famous David? Is this the one they sing of at their dances? Saul kills by the thousand, David by the ten thousand!" ¹² When David realized that he had been recognized, he panicked, fearing the worst from Achish, king of Gath. ¹³ So right there, while they were looking at him, he pretended to go crazy, pounding his head on the city gate and foaming at the mouth, spit dripping from his beard. ¹⁴ Achish took one look at him and said to his servants, "Can't you see he's crazy? Why did you let him in here? ¹⁵ Don't you think I have enough crazy people to put up with as it is without adding another? Get him out of here!"

New King James Version

¹⁰ Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?" ¹² Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ So he changed his behavior before them, feigned madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?"

New Living Translation

¹⁰ So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. ¹¹ But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. "Isn't this David, the king of the land?" they asked. "Isn't he the one the people honor with dances, singing, 'Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?" ¹² David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. ¹³ So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard. ¹⁴ Finally, King Achish said to his men, "Must you bring me a madman? ¹⁵ We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?"