1 Samuel 30
30
Raid on Amalek
1Now it came to pass, when David and his men returned to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire;
2taking the women in it captive, young and old, without killing anyone, but carried them off as they went their way.
3So when David and his men came to the town, behold, it was burned with fire—and their wives, their sons and their daughters had been taken captives.
4Then David and the troops with him lifted up their voice and wept until they there was no more strength in them to weep.
5Even David’s two wives were taken captive—Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.
6So David was in a serious bind, for the troops were calling for his stoning, for all the troops were bitter of soul, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Adonai his God.
7Then David said to Abiathar the kohen son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8David inquired of Adonai saying, “Should I pursue after this raiding band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue! For you will surely overtake and you will surely rescue!”
9So David went, he and the 600 men with him, and came to the Wadi Besor, where those left behind remained—
10for 200 men stayed behind because they were too exhausted to cross Wadi Besor. Yet David pursued, he and the other 400 men.
11Then they found an Egyptian in the open field and brought him to David, gave him bread to eat and water to drink,
12and they also gave him a piece of fig cake and two cakes of raisins. When he had eaten, his spirit came back to him, for he had eaten no bread and drunk no water for three days and three nights.
13Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong? Where are you from?” “I am a young Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” he said. “My master abandoned me three days ago because I fell sick.
14We made a raid in the Negev of the Cherethites, and on Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb; also we burned Ziklag with fire.”
15Then David asked him, “Will you lead me to this raiding band?” “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or deliver me into my master’s hands,” he said, “and I will lead you to this marauding band.”
16So he led him down, and behold, they were scattered over all the area, eating, drinking and feasting because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
17David attacked them from the twilight until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped, except 400 young men who rode on camels and fled.
18So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.
19There was nothing of theirs missing, whether young or old, sons or daughters, spoils or anything else that had been carried off—David recovered everything.
20David took all the flocks and the herd that they had driven ahead of the other cattle, so they said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21When David reached the 200 men—who had been too exhausted to follow David and were left at Wadi Besor—they came out to meet David and to meet the men with him, so David approached these people and greeted them.
22But all the wicked men and worthless fellows among those who accompanied David said, “Because they did not accompany us, we shouldn’t give them any of the spoil that we’ve recovered, except every man may take his wife and his children and leave.”
23“You must not do so, my brothers with what Adonai has given us,” David said. “It is He who has protected us and gave into our hands the raiding band that attacked us.
24Who would listen to you in this matter? The share of him who went down to the battle is to be the same as that of him who remained by the baggage. They will share alike.”
25So it has been from that day forward—he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26When David arrived at Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Look, a blessing for you from the spoil of the enemies of Adonai,”
27to those in Beth-el, Ramoth-Negev, Jattir,
28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,
29Racal, to those in the towns of Jerahmeelite, to those in the towns of the Kenites,
30Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach,
31Hebron and to all the places where David and his men had roamed.
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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.
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