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;
30:2 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.
30:3 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.
30:4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and
wept, until they had no more power to weep.
30:5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and
Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
30:6 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.
30:7 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.
30:8 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.
30:9 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.
30:10 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.
30:11 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;
30:12 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.
30:13 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.
30:14 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.
30:15 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.
30:16 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.
30:17 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.
30:18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David
rescued his two wives.
30:19 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.
30:20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before
those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
30:21 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.
30:22 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.
30:23 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.
30:24 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.
30:25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an
ordinance for Israel unto this day.
30:26 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;
30:27 To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth,
and to them which were in Jattir,
30:28 And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and
to them which were in Eshtemoa,
30:29 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,
30:30 And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan,
and to them which were in Athach,
30:31 And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David
himself and his men were wont to haunt.
