1 Samuel 30

1 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.s

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.8 And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.13 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.14 We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.17 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, which rode upon camels, and fled.s18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

21 And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.s22 Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.s23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.s

26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord;s27 To them which were in Beth–el, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,28 And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,29 And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites,30 And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chor–ashan, and to them which were in Athach,31 And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.

1 Samuel 30

David Defeats the Amalekites

1 Two days later, when David and his men came to Ziklag, the Amalekites had raided the Negev, including Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it.2 Although they captured the young and old women who were there, they killed no one. Instead, they had taken the women and other prisoners and gone away.3 By the time David and his men came to the town, it had been burned down, and their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive.4 Then David and his men cried loudly until they didn’t have the strength to cry anymore.5 The Amalekites also captured David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail (who had been Nabal’s wife) from Carmel.

6 David was in great distress because the people in their bitterness said he should be stoned. (They were thinking of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.)
7 David told the priest Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring me the priestly ephod.”t So Abiathar brought David the ephod.8 Then David asked the Lord, “Should I pursue these troops? Will I catch up with them?”“Pursue them,” the Lord told him. “You will certainly catch up with them and rescue the captives.”9 So David and his 600 men went to the Besor Valley, where some were left behind.

10 David and 400 men went in pursuit, while 200 men who were too exhausted to cross the Besor Valley stayed behind.
11 David’s men found an Egyptian in the open country and took him to David. They gave him food to eat and water to drink.12 They gave him a slice of fig cake and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, he revived. (He hadn’t eaten any food or drunk any water for three whole days.)

13 David asked him, “To whom do you belong? Where do you come from?”
“I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” the young man answered. “My master left me behind because I got sick three days ago.

14 We raided the portion of the Negev where the Cherethites live, the territory of Judah, the portion of the Negev where Caleb settled, and we burned down Ziklag.”
15 “Will you lead me to these troops?” David asked him.He answered, “Take an oath in front of God that you won’t kill me or hand me over to my master, and I’ll lead you to these troops.”16 The Egyptian led him to them. They were spread out all over the land, eating, and drinking. They were celebrating because they had taken so much loot from Philistine territory and from the land of Judah.17 From dawn until evening the next day, David attacked them. No one escaped except 400 young men who rode away on camels.18 David rescued everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.19 Nothing was missing—young or old, sons or daughters, the loot or anything else they had taken with them. David brought back everything.

20 He took all the sheep and the cattle. His men drove the animals ahead of him and said, “This is David’s loot.”
21 David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had stayed in the Besor Valley. They came to meet David and the people with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them.

22 Then every wicked and worthless man who had gone with David said, “Since they didn’t go with us, they shouldn’t be given any of the loot we recovered. Each of them should take only his wife and children and leave.”
23 But David said, “My brothers, don’t do that with the things which the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed the troops that attacked us over to us.24 Besides, who is going to pay attention to what you have to say in this matter? Certainly, the share of those who go into battle must be like the share of those who stay with the supplies. They will all share alike.”

25 From that time on he made this a rule and a custom in Israel as it is to this day.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah. He said, “Here is a gift for you from the loot taken from the Lord’s enemies.”27 There were shares for those in Bethel, Ramoth in the Negev, Jattir,28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,29 Racal, the cities belonging to the Jerahmeelites, the cities belonging to the Kenites,30 Hormah, Borashan, Athach,

31 Hebron, and to all the places David and his men visited from time to time.