1 Samuel 30
30
David Defeats the Amalekites
1Two days later, when David and his men came to Ziklag, the Amalekites had raided the Negev, including Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it. 2Although they captured the young and old women who were there, they killed no one. Instead, they had taken ⌞the women and other prisoners⌟ and gone away. 3By the time David and his men came to the town, it had been burned down, and their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive. 4Then David and his men cried loudly until they didn’t have the strength to cry anymore. 5The Amalekites also captured David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail (who had been Nabal’s wife) from Carmel. 6David was in great distress because the people in their bitterness said he should be stoned. (They were thinking of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.)
7David told the priest Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring me the priestly ephod.” #30:7 Ephod is a technical term for a part of the priest’s clothes. Its exact usage and shape are unknown. So Abiathar brought David the ephod.
8Then David asked the Lord, “Should I pursue these troops? Will I catch up with them?”
“Pursue them,” the Lord told him. “You will certainly catch up with them and rescue the captives.”
9So David and his 600 men went to the Besor Valley, where some were left behind. 10David and 400 men went in pursuit, while 200 men who were too exhausted to cross the Besor Valley stayed behind.
11David’s men found an Egyptian in the open country and took him to David. They gave him food to eat and water to drink. 12They gave him a slice of fig cake and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, he revived. (He hadn’t eaten any food or drunk any water for three whole days.) 13David asked him, “To whom do you belong? Where do you come from?”
“I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” the young man answered. “My master left me behind because I got sick three days ago. 14We raided the portion of the Negev where the Cherethites live, the territory of Judah, the portion of the Negev where Caleb settled, and we burned down Ziklag.”
15“Will you lead me to these troops?” David asked him.
He answered, “Take an oath in front of God that you won’t kill me or hand me over to my master, and I’ll lead you to these troops.”
16The Egyptian led him ⌞to them⌟. They were spread out all over the land, eating, and drinking. They were celebrating because they had taken so much loot from Philistine territory and from the land of Judah. 17From dawn until evening the next day, David attacked them. No one escaped except 400 young men who rode away on camels. 18David rescued everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19Nothing was missing—young or old, sons or daughters, the loot or anything else they had taken with them. David brought back everything. 20He took all the sheep and the cattle. His men drove the animals ahead of him and said, “This is David’s loot.”
21David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had stayed in the Besor Valley. They came to meet David and the people with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them. 22Then every wicked and worthless man who had gone with David said, “Since they didn’t go with us, they shouldn’t be given any of the loot we recovered. Each of them should take only his wife and children and leave.”
23But David said, “My brothers, don’t do that with the things which the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed the troops that attacked us over to us. 24Besides, who is going to pay attention to what you have to say in this matter? Certainly, the share of those who go into battle must be like the share of those who stay with the supplies. They will all share alike.” 25From that time on he made this a rule and a custom in Israel as it is to this day.
26When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah. He said, “Here is a gift for you from the loot ⌞taken from⌟ the Lord’s enemies.” 27There were shares for those in Bethel, Ramoth in the Negev, Jattir, 28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29Racal, the cities belonging to the Jerahmeelites, the cities belonging to the Kenites, 30Hormah, Borashan, Athach, 31Hebron, and to all the places David and his men visited from time to time.
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1 Samuel 30: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 30
30
1 When David and his men had come to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid on the South and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag and burnt it with fire, 2and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They didn’t kill any, but carried them off and went their way. 3When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters were taken captive. 4Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. 5David’s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. 7David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here to me.”
Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8David enquired of the LORD, saying, “If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake them?”
He answered him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and will without fail recover all.”
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they couldn’t go over the brook Besor. 11They found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink. 12They gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. When he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, and drank no water for three days and three nights. 13David asked him, “To whom do you belong? Where are you from?”
He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I got sick. 14We made a raid on the South of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the South of Caleb; and we burnt Ziklag with fire.”
15 David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this troop?”
He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and not deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop.”
16 When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread around over all the ground, eating, drinking, and dancing, because of all the great plunder that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. 17David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19There was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither plunder, nor anything that they had taken. David brought them all back. 20David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s plunder.”
21 David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to stay at the brook Besor; and they went out to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him. When David came near to the people, he greeted them. 22Then all the wicked men and worthless fellows of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they didn’t go with us, we will not give them anything of the plunder that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away and depart.”
23 Then David said, “Do not do so, my brothers, with that which the LORD has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand. 24Who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays with the baggage. They shall share alike.” 25It was so from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, “Behold, a present for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.” 27He sent it to those who were in Bethel, to those who were in Ramoth of the South, to those who were in Jattir, 28to those who were in Aroer, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in Eshtemoa, 29to those who were in Racal, to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30to those who were in Hormah, to those who were in Borashan, to those who were in Athach, 31to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men used to stay.
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