¹⁷ David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to help me, ·I welcome you. Join me. […I am your friend; or we will make an alliance; ^Lmy heart will be united with you]. But if you have come to ·turn me over to my enemies [betray me to my adversaries], even though I have ·done nothing wrong [^Lno violence in my hands], the God of our ·ancestors [^Lfathers] will see this and ·punish you [^Ljudge/decide].”

¹⁸ Then the Spirit ·entered [came upon; ^Lclothed] Amasai, the ·leader [chief] of the Thirty, and he said:

So David ·welcomed [received] these men and made them ·leaders [captains] of his ·army [fighters; raiders].

¹⁹ Some of the men from Manasseh also ·joined [defected/deserted to] David when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. After ·talking about it [consultation], the Philistine leaders decided to send David away. They said, “If David ·goes [defects; deserts] back to his master Saul, ·we will be killed [^Lit will be our heads].”