1 Samuel 30
30
David Destroys the Amalekites
1On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag. The Amalekites had attacked the people of the Negev Desert. They had also attacked Ziklag and burned it. 2They had captured the women and everyone else in Ziklag. They had taken as prisoners young people and old people alike. But they didn’t kill any of them. Instead, they carried them off as they went on their way.
3David and his men reached Ziklag. They saw that it had been destroyed by fire. They found out that their wives and sons and daughters had been captured. 4So David and his men began to weep out loud. They wept until they couldn’t weep anymore. 5David’s two wives had been captured. Their names were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel. Abigail was Nabal’s widow. 6David was greatly troubled. His men were even talking about killing him by throwing stones at him. All of them were very bitter because their sons and daughters had been taken away. But David was made strong by the Lord his God.
7Then David spoke to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek. He said, “Bring me the linen apron.” Abiathar brought it to him. 8David asked the Lord for advice. He said, “Should I chase after the men who attacked Ziklag? If I do, will I catch up with them?”
“Chase after them,” the Lord answered. “You will certainly catch up with them. You will succeed in saving those who were captured.”
9David and his 600 men came to the Besor Valley. Some of them stayed behind there. 10That’s because 200 of them were too tired to go across the valley. But David and the other 400 continued the chase.
11David’s men found an Egyptian in a field. They brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat. 12They gave him part of a cake of pressed figs. They also gave him two raisin cakes. After he ate them, he felt as good as new. That’s because he hadn’t eaten any food for three days and three nights. He hadn’t drunk any water during that time either.
13David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?”
The man said, “I’m from Egypt. I’m the slave of an Amalekite. My master deserted me when I became ill three days ago. 14We attacked the people in the Negev Desert of the Kerethites. We attacked the territory that belongs to Judah. We attacked the people in the Negev Desert of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”
15David asked him, “Can you lead me down to the men who attacked Ziklag?”
He answered, “Make a promise to me in the name of God. Promise that you won’t kill me. Promise that you won’t hand me over to my master. Then I’ll take you down to them.”
16He led David down to where the men were. They were scattered all over the countryside. They were eating and drinking and dancing wildly. That’s because they had taken a large amount of goods from those they had attacked. They had taken it from the land of the Philistines and from the people of Judah. 17David fought against them from sunset until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped except 400 young men. They rode off on camels and got away. 18David got everything back that the Amalekites had taken. That included his two wives. 19Nothing was missing. Not one young person or old person or boy or girl was missing. None of the goods or anything else the Amalekites had taken was missing. David brought everything back. 20He brought back all the flocks and herds. His men drove them on ahead of the other livestock. They said, “Here’s what David has captured.”
21Then David came to the 200 men who had been too tired to follow him. They had been left behind in the Besor Valley. They came out to welcome David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were. 22But some of the men who had gone out with David were evil. They wanted to stir up trouble. They said, “The 200 men didn’t go out into battle with us. So we won’t share with them the goods we brought back. But each man can take his wife and children and go home.”
23David replied, “No, my friends. You must not hold back their share of what the Lord has given us. He has kept us safe. He has handed over to us the men who attacked us. 24So no one will pay any attention to what you are saying. Each man who stayed with the supplies will receive the same share as each man who went down to the battle. Everyone’s share will be the same.” 25David made that a law and a rule for Israel. It has been followed from that day until now.
26David reached Ziklag. He sent some of the goods to the elders of Judah. They were his friends. He said, “Here’s a gift for you. It’s part of the things we took from the Lord’s enemies.”
27David sent some goods to the elders in Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir. 28He sent some to the elders in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa 29and Rakal. He sent some to the elders in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites. 30He sent some to the elders in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athak 31and Hebron. He also sent some to the elders in all the other places where he and his men had wandered around.
Currently Selected:
1 Samuel 30: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Samuel 30
30
David Recovers His Loved Ones
1Now#Literally “And it happened” when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire. 2They took captive the women#LXX adds “and all” who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest.#Literally “from small and up to great” They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way. 3When David and his men came to the city, they saw,#Literally “and look” and it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep. 5Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel#Literally “the Jezreelitess” and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6And David was in a very precarious situation,#Literally “it was very pressed for David” for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each one over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
7Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here for me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.” 9So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi#A valley that is usually dry but contains a stream during the rainy season Besor, but the rest remained. 10David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.
11Then they found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David, and they gave him food and he ate; they also gave him water. 12They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and this revived him,#Literally “his spirit returned to him” because he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong,#Literally “To whom are you” and from where are you? The young man said, “I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago. 14We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and that which belongs to Judah and then the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15So David asked him, “Will you take me down to this band of raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and that you will not deliver me into my master’s hand! Then I will take you down to this band.” 16So he took him down, and there they were,#Literally “look” spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped except#Literally “but if” four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. 18So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; David also rescued his two wives. 19None of theirs was missing from the smallest to the greatest,#Literally “from the small and up to the great” even sons and daughters, from the plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything. 20And David took all of the sheep,#Hebrew “flock,” referring to either sheep or goats or both and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, “This is David’s plunder.”
21Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow#Literally “who were exhausted from going after” David; they had left them behind at the Wadi#A valley that is usually dry but contains a stream during the rainy season Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and asked them how they were doing.#Literally “asked for them as far as peace” 22Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder which we recovered, except#Literally “but if” each man may take his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!” 23But David said to them, “You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the raiding band that came against us into our hand. 24And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike.” 25So#Or “And” from that day and beyond, he made it a rule and a regulation for Israel until this day.
26Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is#Literally “Look” a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!” 27It was for those in Bethel, for those in Ramoth of the Negev, for those in Jattir, 28for those in Aroer, for those in Siphmoth, for those in Eshtemoa, 29for those in Racal, for those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, for those in the towns of the Kenites, 30for those in Hormah, for those in Bor Ashan, for those in Athach, 31for those in Hebron, and for all the places where David and his men had roamed.#Literally “where David had gone about there, he and his men”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2010 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software