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
1Three days later David and his men arrived back in Ziklag. Some Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down. 2They had captured the women and everyone else there, young and old. They hadn't killed anyone, but they took everyone with them as they left.
3When David and his men arrived back in town, they found it burned to the ground, and their wives and children captured. 4David and his men cried loudly until they couldn't cry any more. 5David's two wives had also been taken as prisoners—Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel. 6David was in a great deal of trouble, because the men were so upset over losing their children that they began to talk of stoning him.
But trusting in the Lord his God, 7David went to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, and said, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him. 8David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after these raiders? Will I catch up with them?”
“Yes, chase after them,” the Lord replied, “for you will definitely catch up with them and rescue the prisoners.”
9David and six hundred of his men set off for the Besor Valley. 10Two hundred of them remained behind there because they were too tired to cross the valley while David continued on with four hundred men.
11They came across an Egyptian in the countryside and they took him to David. They gave him some food to eat and water to drink. 12They also gave him a piece of a fig cake and two raisin cakes. He ate them and recovered, because he hadn't had any food or water for three days and nights.
13“Whose slave are you, and where do you come from?” David asked him.
“I'm an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master left me behind three days ago when I got sick. 14We raided the Kerethites in the Negev, as well as the part that belongs to Judah, and the Negev of Caleb. We burned Ziklag too.”
15“Can you lead me to these raiders?” David asked.
“If you swear to me by God that you won't kill me or hand me over to my master, then I'll take you to them,” the man replied.
16He led David to the Amalekites, where they were spread out all over the place, eating, drinking, and dancing because of the large haul of plunder they had taken from the lands of the Philistines and of Judah. 17David attacked them from dusk until the following evening. Nobody escaped, except for four hundred men who managed to get away, riding on camels. 18David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19Everything was accounted for—all the adults and children, as well as all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back. 20He also recovered all the flocks and herds. His men drove them ahead of the other livestock, shouting, “This is David's plunder!”
21When David got back to the two hundred men who had been too tired to continue with him from the Besor Valley, they came to meet him and the men with him. As David approached the men to greet them, 22all the unpleasant, good-for-nothing men of those who had gone with David said, “They weren't with us, so we won't share the plunder that we took, except to give them back their wives and children. They can take them and leave.”
23But David intervened, saying, “No, my brothers, you shouldn't do this with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the raiders that had attacked us. 24Who's going to listen to you when you say such things? Whatever share those who went into battle receive will be the same as those who stayed to guard the supplies.” 25David made this the rule and regulation for Israel from that day until now.
26When David got back to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to each of his friends among the elders of Judah, saying, “Here's a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord's enemies.” 27David sent it to those who lived in Bethuel,#30:27. “Bethuel”: far more likely than “Bethel” as in the Hebrew text. Ramoth Negev, Jattir, 28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29Racal, the towns of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites, 30Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach, 31Hebron—all the places David and his men had gone to.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com