Kings I 30

1 And it came to pass when David and his men had entered Sekelac on the third day, that Amalec had made an incursion upon the south, and upon Sekelac, and struck Sekelac, and burnt it with fire.

On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

2 And as to the women and all things that were in it, great and small, they killed neither man nor woman, but carried them captives, and went on their way.

They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.

3 And David and his men came into the city, and, behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were carried captive.

When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

4 And David and his men lifted up their voice, and wept till there was no longer any power within them to weep.

So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

5 And both the wives of David were carried captive, Achinaam, the Jezraelitess, and Abigaia the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

6 And David was greatly distressed, because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, each for his sons and his daughters: but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest the son of Achimelech, Bring near the ephod.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

8 And David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? and he said to him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and you shall surely rescue [the captives].

and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”

9 So David went, he an the six hundred men with him, an they come as far as the brook Bosor, and the superfluous ones stopped.

So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind

10 And he pursued them with four hundred men; and there remained behind two hundred men, who tarried on the other side of the brook Bosor.

because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.

11 And they find an Egyptian in the field, and they take him, and bring him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they caused him to drink water.

Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat—

12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and he ate, and his spirit was restored in him; for he had not eaten bread, and had not drunk water three days and three nights.

a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.

13 And David said to him, Whose are you? and whence are you? and the young man the Egyptian said, I am the servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me, because I was taken ill three days ago.

Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

14 And we made an incursion on the south of the Chelethite, and on the parts of Judea, and on the south of Chelub, and we burnt Sekelac with fire.

We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

15 And David said to him, Will you bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear now to me by God, that you will not kill me, and that you will not deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down upon this troop.

“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

16 So be brought him down there, and behold, they [were] scattered abroad upon the surface of the whole land, eating and drinking, and feasting by [reason of] all the great spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.

So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

17 And David came upon them, and struck them from the morning till the evening, and on the next day; and not one of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who were mounted on camels, and fled.

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued both his wives.

So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

19 And nothing was lacking to them of great or small, either of the spoils, or the sons and daughters, or anything that they had taken of theirs; and David recovered all.

Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.

20 And he took all the flocks, and the herds, and led them away before the spoils: and it was said of these spoils, These [are] the spoils of David.

And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

21 And David comes to the two hundred men who were left behind that they should not follow after David, and he had caused them to remain by the brook of Bosor; and they came forth to meet David, and to meet his people with him: and David drew near to the people, and they asked him how he did.

When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him from the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,

22 Then every ill-disposed and bad man of the soldiers who had gone with David, answered and said, Because they did not pursue together with us, we will not give them of the spoils which we have recovered, only let each one lead away with him his wife and his children, and let them return.

but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

23 And David said, You shall not do so, after the Lord has delivered [the enemy] to us, and guarded us, and the Lord has delivered into our hands the troop that came against u.

But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.

24 And who will listen to these your words? for they are not inferior to us; for according to the portion of him that went down to the battle, so shall be the portion of him that abides with the baggage; they shall share alike.

Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

25 And it came to pass from that day forward, that it became an ordinance and a custom in Israel until this day.

And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute as an ordinance for Israel to this very day.

26 And David came to Sekelac, and sent of the spoils to the elders of Juda, and to his friends, saying, Behold [some] of the spoils of the enemies of the Lord;

When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

27 to those in Baethsur, and to those in Rama of the south, and to those in Gethor.

He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

28 And to those in Aroer, and to those in Ammadi, and to those in Saphi, and to those in Esthie,

to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa;

29 and to those in Geth, and to those in Cimath, and to those in Saphec, and to those in Themath, and to those in Carmel, and to those in the cities of Jeremeel, and to those in the cities of the Kenezite;

to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;

30 and to those in Jerimuth, and to those in Bersabee, and to those in Nombe,

to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;

31 and to those in Chebron, and to all the places which David and his men had passed through.

and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.