1Sam 30
1
And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day,
that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten
Ziklag, and burned it with fire,
2
and had taken captive the women [and all] that were therein, both small and great:
they slew not any, but carried them off, and went their way.
3
And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and
their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive.
4
Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until
they had no more power to weep.
5
And David`s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the
wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the
soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters:
but David strengthened himself in YHWH his God.
7
And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray you, bring me
here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David.
8
And David inquired of YHWH, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake
them? And he answered him, Pursue; for you shall surely overtake [them], and shall
without fail recover [all].
9
So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook
Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.
10
But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were
so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
11
And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread,
and he did eat; and they gave him water to drink.
12
And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when
he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any
water, three days and three nights.
13
And David said to him, To whom belonge you? and whence are you? And he said, I am
a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three
days ago I fell sick.
14
We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongs to Judah,
and upon the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
15
And David said to him, Will you bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to
me by God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master,
and I will bring you down to this troop.
16
And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground,
eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken
out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
17
And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day: and there
escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels and fled.
18
And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives.
19
And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters,
neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David brought back all.
20
And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other]
cattle, and said, This is David`s spoil.
21
And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow
David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor; and they went forth to
meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to
the people, he saluted them.
22
Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those that went with David,
and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil
that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead
them away, and depart.
23
Then said David, You shall not do so, my brethren, with that which YHWH has given
to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our
hand.
24
And who will hearken to you in this matter? for as his share is that goes down to
the battle, so shall his share be that tarrys by the baggage: they shall share alike.
25
And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for
Israel to this day.
26
And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, even to
his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of YHWH:
27
To them that were in Beth-el, and to them that were in Ramoth of the South, and to
them that were in Jattir,
28
and to them that were in Aroer, and to them that were in Siphmoth, and to them that
were in Eshtemoa,
29
and to them that were in Racal, and to them that were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites,
and to them that were in the cities of the Kenites,
30
and to them that were in Hormah, and to them that were in Bor-ashan, and to them that
were in Athach,
31
and to them that were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his
men were wont to haunt.