1 Samuel 30

1 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.

And it came to pass when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the 'Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burnt it with fire;

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

And had taken captive the women that were therein, both great and small: they had not slain any one, but had led them off, and gone on their way.

3 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.

When therefore David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, had been taken captive.

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

And David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

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

And the two wives of David were also taken captive, Achino'am the Yizre'elitess, and Abigayil the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

6 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.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was imbittered, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David fortified himself in the Lord his God.

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

And David said to Ebyathar the priest, the son of Achimelech, Bring hither, I pray thee, unto me the ephod. And Ebyathar brought the ephod near unto David.

8 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].”

And David asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop! shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou wilt surely overtake them, and certainly recover [all].

9 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].

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came up to the brook Bessor, where those that were left behind stayed.

10 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.

But David pursued on, he and four hundred men; and there stayed behind two hundred men, who were too fatigued to go over the brook Bessor.

11 [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.

And they found an Egyptian man in the field, and took him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;

12 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.

And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins, and he ate, and then his spirit returned to him; for he had not eaten any bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

13 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].

And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young Egyptian man, the servant to an 'Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because I fell sick, today three days ago.

14 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].”

We made an invasion upon the south of the Kerethites, and upon that which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and Ziklag did we burn with fire.

15 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.”

And David said to him, Wilt thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, and that thou wilt not surrender me into the hand of my master, and then will I bring thee down to this troop.

16 [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.

And he brought him down; and behold, they were scattered over the face of all the country, eating and drinking, and dancing for joy, because of all the great spoil which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

17 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.

And David smote them from the twilight even unto 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 David rescued his two wives, and he and his men got back everything else that the men of the Amalek people-group had taken.

And David recovered all that the 'Amalekites had taken away; and his two wives also did David rescue.

19 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.

And there was nothing missing to them, from small to great, as also sons and daughters, and spoil, down to every thing that they had taken from them: the whole did David bring back.

20 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!”

And David took all the flocks and the herds: these they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

21 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!”

And David came to the two hundred men, who had been too fatigued to follow after David, and whom they had left to remain at the brook Bessor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him; and David came near to the people, and asked them after their well-being.

22 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].”

Then exclaimed every wicked and worthless man, of those that had gone with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, and these they may lead away, and go.

23 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.

Then said David, Ye must not do so, my brethren; since the Lord hath given us this, and guarded us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.

24 (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.”

And who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as is the part of him that went down to the battle, so shall be the part of him that remained with the baggage: together must they share.

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

And it happened from that day and forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel until this day.

26 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.”

And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold, here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:

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

To those who were in Beth-el, and to those who were in south Ramoth, and to those who were in Yattir,

28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,

And to those who were in 'Aro'er, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa',

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

And to those who were in Rachal, and to those who were in the cities of Yerach-meelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,

30 Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach,

And to those who were in Chormah, and to those who were in Kor-'ashan, and to those who were in 'Athach,

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

And to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men had wandered about.