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.
| ויהי בבא דוד ואנשיו צקלג--ביום השלישי ועמלקי פשטו אל נגב ואל צקלג ויכו את צקלג וישרפו אתה באש |
2 They had captured the women [and the children] and everyone else, and had taken them away. But they had not killed anyone.
| וישבו את הנשים אשר בה מקטן ועד גדול לא המיתו איש וינהגו וילכו לדרכם |
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.
| ויבא דוד ואנשיו אל העיר והנה שרופה באש ונשיהם ובניהם ובנתיהם נשבו |
4 David and his men cried loudly, until [they were so weak that] they could not cry [any more].
| וישא דוד והעם אשר אתו את קולם--ויבכו עד אשר אין בהם כח לבכות |
5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had also been taken away.
| ושתי נשי דוד נשבו--אחינעם היזרעלית ואביגיל אשת נבל הכרמלי |
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.
| ותצר לדוד מאד כי אמרו העם לסקלו--כי מרה נפש כל העם איש על בנו ועל בנתיו ויתחזק דוד ביהוה אלהיו |
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,
| ויאמר דוד אל אביתר הכהן בן אחימלך הגישה נא לי האפוד ויגש אביתר את האפוד אל דוד |
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].”
| וישאל דוד ביהוה לאמר ארדף אחרי הגדוד הזה האשגנו ויאמר לו רדף כי השג תשיג והצל תציל |
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].
| וילך דוד הוא ושש מאות איש אשר אתו ויבאו עד נחל הבשור והנותרים עמדו |
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.
| וירדף דוד הוא וארבע מאות איש ויעמדו מאתים איש אשר פגרו מעבר את נחל הבשור |
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.
| וימצאו איש מצרי בשדה ויקחו אתו אל דוד ויתנו לו לחם ויאכל וישקהו מים |
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.
| ויתנו לו פלח דבלה ושני צמקים ויאכל ותשב רוחו אליו כי לא אכל לחם ולא שתה מים שלשה ימים ושלשה לילות |
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].
| ויאמר לו דוד למי אתה ואי מזה אתה ויאמר נער מצרי אנכי עבד לאיש עמלקי ויעזבני אדני כי חליתי היום שלשה |
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].”
| אנחנו פשטנו נגב הכרתי ועל אשר ליהודה--ועל נגב כלב ואת צקלג שרפנו באש |
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.”
| ויאמר אליו דוד התורדני אל הגדוד הזה ויאמר השבעה לי באלהים אם תמיתני ואם תסגרני ביד אדני ואורדך אל הגדוד הזה |
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.
| וירדהו והנה נטשים על פני כל הארץ אכלים ושתים וחגגים בכל השלל הגדול אשר לקחו מארץ פלשתים ומארץ יהודה |
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.
| ויכם דוד מהנשף ועד הערב למחרתם ולא נמלט מהם איש כי אם ארבע מאות איש נער אשר רכבו על הגמלים וינסו |
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.
| ויצל דוד את כל אשר לקחו עמלק ואת שתי נשיו הציל דוד |
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.
| ולא נעדר להם מן הקטן ועד הגדול ועד בנים ובנות ומשלל ועד כל אשר לקחו להם הכל השיב דוד |
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!”
| ויקח דוד את כל הצאן והבקר נהגו לפני המקנה ההוא ויאמרו זה שלל דוד |
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!”
| ויבא דוד אל מאתים האנשים אשר פגרו מלכת אחרי דוד וישיבם בנחל הבשור ויצאו לקראת דוד ולקראת העם אשר אתו ויגש דוד את העם וישאל להם לשלום |
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].”
| ויען כל איש רע ובליעל מהאנשים אשר הלכו עם דוד ויאמרו יען אשר לא הלכו עמי לא נתן להם מהשלל אשר הצלנו כי אם איש את אשתו ואת בניו וינהגו וילכו |
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.
| ויאמר דוד לא תעשו כן אחי את אשר נתן יהוה לנו וישמר אתנו ויתן את הגדוד הבא עלינו בידנו |
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.”
| ומי ישמע לכם לדבר הזה כי כחלק הירד במלחמה וכחלק הישב על הכלים--יחדו יחלקו |
25 David made that to be a law [DOU] for the Israeli people, and that is still a law in Israel.
| ויהי מהיום ההוא ומעלה וישמה לחק ולמשפט לישראל עד היום הזה |
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.”
| ויבא דוד אל צקלג וישלח מהשלל לזקני יהודה לרעהו לאמר הנה לכם ברכה משלל איבי יהוה |
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,
| לאשר בבית אל ולאשר ברמות נגב ולאשר ביתר |
28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,
| ולאשר בערער ולאשר בשפמות ולאשר באשתמע |
29 Racal, the cities where the descendants of Jehrameel lived and the cities where the Ken people-group lived,
| ולאשר ברכל ולאשר בערי הירחמאלי ולאשר בערי הקיני |
30 Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach,
| ולאשר בחרמה ולאשר בבור עשן ולאשר בעתך |
31 Hebron, and all the other places where David and his men had gone [when they were hiding from Saul].
| ולאשר בחברון ולכל המקמות אשר התהלך שם דוד הוא ואנשיו |
