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 made a raid into the South, and into Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned 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 and all who were therein, from small even unto great, they had not put one to death, —but had driven them forth, and gone 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.

So, when David and his men came to the city, lo! 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].

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

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

And, the two wives of David, had been taken captive, —Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, 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 in sore distress, for the people had spoken of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were embittered, every man for his own sons and for his own daughters, —but David emboldened himself in Yahweh 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,

Then said David to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, Do bring near me, I pray thee, the ephod. So Abiathar brought near the ephod, 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 enquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? shall I overtake it? And he said unto him: Pursue, for thou shalt, overtake, and thou shalt, rescue.

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, who were with him, and they came in as far as the ravine of Besor, —where, they who had to be 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, he. and four hundred men, —but the two hundred men stayed, because they were too wearied to cross over the ravine of Besor.

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 in the field, and took him unto David, —and gave him food, and he did eat, and they gave him water to drink;

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 cakes of raisins, and, when he had eaten, his spirit came back unto him, —for he had neither eaten food, nor drunk 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].

Then David said to him—Whose art thou? and whence art thou? And he said, A young man of Egypt, am I, servant to an Amalekite, and my lord left me behind, because I fell sick, 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].”

As for us, we invaded the South of the Cherithites, and against that which pertaineth unto Judah, and against the South of Caleb, —and, Ziklag, burned we 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 unto him, Wilt thou bring me down unto this troop? And he said—Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt not put me to death, neither wilt thou surrender me into the hand of my lord, and I will bring thee down unto 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.

So he brought him down, and lo! they were left to themselves over the face of all the land, —eating, and drinking, and dancing around, for 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 closing twilight even unto the evening of the next day, —and there escaped not of them a man, 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 rescued all whom the Amalekites had taken, —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—whether small or great, whether spoil, or sons or daughters, or, any thing which they had taken unto themselves, —the whole, did David recover.

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, —they drave them before those other cattle, and they 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 unto the two hundred men, who had been too wearied to follow David, and whom they had suffered to remain at the ravine of Besor, —and they came forth to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him, and when David came near unto the people, they enquired of his success.

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 responded every man who was bad and abandoned, from among the men who had been with David, and said—Because they went not with me there shall not be given them of the spoil that we have rescued, —save, to every man, his wife and his children, let them put them forth, then, 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 shall not do so, my brethren, —with that which Yahweh hath given to us, who hath preserved 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.”

Who indeed, could hearken unto you, in this mutter? Surely, like the share of him that went down into the battle, even, so, shall be the share of him that remained by the stores—alike, shall they share.

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

And so it came to pass, from that day forward, that he appointed it, for a statute and for a custom unto 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, unto his friends, saying, —Lo! for you, a blessing, out of the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh:

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 them who were in Bethel, and to them who were in Ramoth of the South, and to them who were in Jattir,

28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,

and to them who were in Aroer, and to them who were in Siphmoth, and to them 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 them who were in Racal, and to them who were in the cities of the Jerameelites, and to them who were in the cities of the Kenites,

30 Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach,

and to them who were in Hormah, and to them who were in Cor-ashan, and to them 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 them who were in Hebron, —and to all the places where David had been to and fro, he and his men.