Bible in Basic English
So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin.
Then Achish said to his servants, Look! the man is clearly off his head; why have you let him come before me?
Are there not enough unbalanced men about me, that you have let this person come and do such tricks before me? is such a man to come into my house?
— 1 Samuel 21:13-1964, Bible in Basic English
“And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 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? ”
“And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? ”
“He changed his behavior before them, and pretended to be mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?"”
“He altered his behavior in their presence. Since he was in their power, he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants,“Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? Do I have a shortage of fools, that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?””
“And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard. And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad: why have you brought him to me? Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? ”
“And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 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? ”
Then David got up and went in flight that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath.
And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David, the king of the land? did they not make songs about him in their dances, saying, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands?
And David took these words to heart, fearing Achish, the king of Gath.
So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin.
Then Achish said to his servants, Look! the man is clearly off his head; why have you let him come before me?
Are there not enough unbalanced men about me, that you have let this person come and do such tricks before me? is such a man to come into my house?