1 Kings 30
30
1Now, when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire.
2And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and great: and they had not killed any person, but had carried them with them, and went on their way.
3So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and that their wives and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives,
4David and the people that were with him lifted up their voices, and wept till they had no more tears.
5For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
6And David was greatly afflicted. For the people had a mind to stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons, and daughters. But David took courage in the Lord his God.
7And he said to Abiathar the priest the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him: Pursue after them. For thou shalt surely overtake them and recover the prey.
9So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him. And they came to the torrent Besor: and some being weary stayed there.
10But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred stayed, who being weary could not go over the torrent Besor.
11And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to drink,
12As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten them his spirit returned, and he was refreshed: for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water three days, and three nights.
13And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong? Or whence dost thou come? And whither art thou going? He said: I am a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite: and my master left me, because I began to be sick three days ago.
14For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and upon Juda, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire.
15And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this company? And he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee to this company. And David swore to him.
16And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread upon all the ground, eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey, and the spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.
17And David slew them from the evening unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, but four hundred young men, who had gotten upon camels, and fled.
18So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken; and he rescued his two wives.
19And there was nothing missing small or great, neither of their sons or their daughters, nor of the spoils: and whatsoever they had taken David recovered all.
20And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before him. And they said: This is the prey of David.
21And David came to the two hundred men, who being weary had stayed, and were not able to follow David, and he had ordered them to abide at the torrent Besor. And they came out to meet David, and the people that were with him. And David coming to the people saluted them peaceably.
22Then all the wicked and unjust men that had gone with David answering, said: Because they came not with us, we will not give them any thing of the prey which we have recovered. But let every man take his wife and his children, and be contented with them, and go his way.
23But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these things, which the Lord hath given us, who hath kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that invaded us into our hands.
24And no man shall hearken to you in this matter. But equal shall be the portion of him that went down to battle and of him that abode at the baggage; and they shall divide alike.
25And this hath been done from that day forward, and since was made a statute, and an ordinance, and as a law in Israel.
26Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the ancients of Juda his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of the Lord.
27To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the south, and to them that were in Jether,
28And to them that were in Aroer and that were in Sephamoth, and that were in Esthamo,
29And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of Jerameel, and that were in the cities of Ceni,
30And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and that were in Athach,
31And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those places, in which David had abode with his men.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1 Samuel 30
30
David’s War with the Amalekites
1On the third day David and his men arrived at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it. 2They took the women and everyone in Ziklag as prisoners, both young and old. But they did not kill any of the people. They only took them away.
3When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found the town had been burned. Their wives, sons and daughters had been taken as prisoners. 4Then David and his army cried loudly until they were too weak to cry anymore. 5David’s two wives had also been taken. They were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal from Carmel. 6The men in the army were threatening to kill David with stones. This upset David very much. Each man was sad and angry because his sons and daughters had been taken as prisoners. But David found strength in the Lord his God. 7David said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the holy vest.”
8Then David prayed to the Lord. He said, “Should I chase the people who took our families? Will I catch them?”
The Lord answered, “Chase them. You will catch them. You will succeed in saving your families.”
9David and the 600 men with him came to the Besor Ravine. Some of the men stayed there. 10David and 400 men kept up the chase. The other 200 men stayed behind because they were too tired and weak to cross the ravine.
11David’s men found an Egyptian in a field. They took him to David. They gave the Egyptian some water to drink and some food to eat. 12They gave him a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. He felt better after eating. He had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and nights.
13David asked him, “Who is your master? Where do you come from?”
He answered, “I’m an Egyptian. I’m the slave of an Amalekite. Three days ago my master left me, because I became sick. 14We attacked the southern area of the Kerethites. We attacked the land of Judah and the southern area belonging to Caleb. We burned Ziklag, as well.
15David asked him, “Will you lead me to the people who took our families?”
He answered, “Yes, if you will make a promise to me before God. Promise that you won’t kill me or give me back to my master. Then I will take you to them.”
16So the Egyptian led David to the Amalekites. They were lying around on the ground, eating and drinking. They were celebrating with the things they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. 17David fought them from sunset until evening the next day. None of them escaped, except 400 young men who rode off on their camels. 18David got his two wives back. He also got back everything the Amalekites had taken. 19Nothing was missing. David brought back everything: the young and old people, the sons and daughters, the valuable things and everything the Amalekites had taken. 20David took all the sheep and cattle. His men made these animals go in front. They said, “They are David’s prize.”
21Then David came to the 200 men who had been too tired and weak to follow him. He had made them stay at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the army with him. When he came near, the men at the ravine greeted David and his army.
22But there were evil men and troublemakers in the group that followed David. They said, “These 200 men didn’t go with us. So we won’t give them any of the things we took. But each man may take his wife and children and go.”
23David answered, “No, my brothers. Don’t do that after what the Lord has given us. He has given us the enemy who attacked us. 24Who will listen to what you say? The share will be the same for the man who stayed with the supplies as for the man who went into battle. All will share alike.” 25David made this an order and rule for Israel. This order and rule continues even today.
26David arrived in Ziklag. Then he sent some of the things he had taken from the Amalekites to his friends, the leaders of Judah. He said, “Here is a present for you from the things we took from the Lord’s enemies.”
27David sent some things from the Amalekites to the leaders in Bethel, Ramoth in the southern part of Judah, Jattir, 28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa 29and Racal. He also sent some to the leaders of the cities of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, 30to Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach 31and Hebron. He sent some things to the people in all the other places where he and his men had been.
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