1 Samuel 30

1 Now when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire.

Three days later, when David and his men arrived at Ziklag, [they discovered that] men of the Amalek people-group had raided Ziklag and [towns in] the southern part of Judah. They had destroyed Ziklag and burned down all the buildings.

2 And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and great: and they had not killed any person, but had carried them with them, and went on their way.

They had captured the women [and the children] and everyone else, and had taken them away. But they had not killed anyone.

3 So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and that their wives and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives,

When David and his men came to Ziklag, they saw that the town had been burned, and that their wives and sons and daughters had been captured and taken away.

4 David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices, and wept till they had no more tears.

David and his men cried loudly, until [they were so weak that] they could not cry [any more].

5 For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

David’s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had also been taken away.

6 And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a mind to stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons, and daughters: but David took courage in the Lord his God.

David’s men were threatening to [kill him by] throwing stones at him, because they were very angry because their sons and daughters [had been taken away]. David was very distressed, but Yahweh his God gave him strength.

7 And he said to Abiathar the priest the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

David [did not know what to do, so he] said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring to me the sacred vest.” So Abiathar brought it,

8 And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him: Pursue after them: for thou shalt surely overtake them and recover the prey.

and David asked Yahweh, “Should I [and my men] pursue the men [who took our families]? Will we [be able to] catch up to them?” Yahweh answered [by means of the stones in Abiathar’s sacred pouch], “Yes, pursue them. You will catch up to them, and you will be able to rescue [your families].”

9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor: and some being weary stayed there.

So David and the 600 men who were with him left, and they came to the Besor Ravine. Some of his men stayed there [with some of their supplies].

10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred stayed, who being weary could not go over the torrent Besor.

David and 400 men continued to pursue [the men who captured their families]. The other 200 men stayed there at the ravine, because they were so exhausted that they could not cross the ravine.

11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to drink,

[As David and the 400 men were going], they saw a man from Egypt in a field; so they took him to David. They gave the man some water to drink and some food to eat.

12 As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten them his spirit returned, and he was refreshed: for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water three days, and three nights.

They also gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters/packs of raisins. The man had not had anything to eat or drink for three days and nights, but [after he ate and drank] he felt refreshed.

13 And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong? or whence dost thou come? and whither art thou going? He said: I am a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite, and my master left me, because I began to be sick three days ago.

David asked him, “Who is your master? And where do you come from?” He replied, “I am from Egypt. I am a slave of a man from the Amalek people-group. Three days ago my master left me here, because I was sick [and I was not able to go with them].

14 For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and upon Juda, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire.

We had raided the southern part of Judah where the Kereth people-group live, and some other towns in Judah, and the area south [of Hebron city] where the descendants of Caleb live. We also burned Ziklag [town].”

15 And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this company? And he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee to this company. And David swore to him.

David asked him, “Can you lead us to this group of raiders?” He replied, “Yes, [I will do that] if you ask God to listen while you promise that you will not kill me or give me back to my master. If you promise that, I will take you to them.”

16 And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread upon all the ground, eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey, and the spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.

[David agreed to do that, ] so the man from Egypt led David [and his men] to where the men from the Amalek people-group were. Those men were lying on the ground, eating and drinking and celebrating because of having captured many things from the Philistia and Judah areas.

17 And David slew them from the evening unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, but four hundred young men, who had gotten upon camels, and fled.

David [and his men] fought against them from sunset that day until the evening of the following day. Four hundred of them escaped and rode away on camels, but none of the others escaped.

18 So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he rescued his two wives.

David rescued his two wives, and he and his men got back everything else that the men of the Amalek people-group had taken.

19 And there was nothing missing small or great, neither of their sons or their daughters, nor of the spoils, and whatsoever they had taken: David recovered all.

Nothing was missing. They took all their people back [to Ziklag]—young people and old people, [their wives], their sons and their daughters. They also recovered all the other things that the men of the Amalek people-group had taken from Ziklag.

20 And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before him: and they said: This is the prey of David.

They took with them the sheep and cattle that had been captured, and his men caused those animals to go in front of them, saying, “These are animals that we captured in the battle; they belong to David!”

21 And David came to the two hundred men, who being weary had stayed, and were not able to follow David, and he had ordered them to abide at the torrent Besor: and they came out to meet David, and the people that were with him. And David coming to the people saluted them peaceably.

David and his men got back to where the other 200 men were waiting, the men who did not go with David because they were very exhausted. They had stayed at Besor Ravine. [When they saw David and his men coming], they went out to greet them. And David [greeted them and] said to them, “I hope that things are going well with you!”

22 Then all the wicked and unjust men that had gone with David answering, said: Because they came not with us, we will not give them any thing of the prey which we have recovered: but let every man take his wife and his children, and be contented with them, and go his way.

But some of the men who had gone with David, men who were evil and troublemakers, said, “These 200 men did not go with us. So we should not give to them any of the things that we recovered/captured. Each of them should take only his wife and children and go [back to their homes].”

23 But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these things, which the Lord hath given us, who hath kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that invaded us into our hands.

David replied, “No, my fellow Israelis, it would not be right to divide up like that the things that Yahweh has allowed us to capture. Yahweh has protected us and enabled us to defeat the enemies who attacked our town.

24 And no man shall hearken to you in this matter. But equal shall be the portion of him that went down to battle and of him that abode at the baggage, and they shall divide alike.

(Who will pay attention to you if you say things like that?/No one will pay attention to you if you say things like that.) [RHQ] The men who stayed here with our supplies will get the same amount that the men who went into the battle will get. They will all receive the same amount.”

25 And this hath been done from that day forward, and since was made a statute, and an ordinance, and as a law in Israel.

David made that to be a law [DOU] for the Israeli people, and that is still a law in Israel.

26 Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the ancients of Juda his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of the Lord.

When David [and all the others] arrived in Ziklag, David sent to his friends who were leaders in Judah some of the things that they had captured from the Amalek people-group. He said to them, “Here is a present for you. These are things that we took from Yahweh’s enemies.”

27 To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the south, and to them that were in Jether,

[Here is a list of the cities and towns to whose leaders David sent gifts: ] Bethel, Ramoth in the southern part of Judah, Jattir,

28 And to them that were in Aroer and that were in Sephamoth, and that were in Esthamo,

Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,

29 And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of Jerameel, and that were in the cities of Ceni,

Racal, the cities where the descendants of Jehrameel lived and the cities where the Ken people-group lived,

30 And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and that were in Athach,

Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach,

31 And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those places, in which David had abode with his men.

Hebron, and all the other places where David and his men had gone [when they were hiding from Saul].