1 Samuel 30
30
1And it cometh to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed unto the south, and unto Ziklag, and smite Ziklag, and burn it with fire,
2and they take captive the women who [are] in it; from small unto great they have not put any one to death, and they lead away, and go on their way.
3And David cometh in — and his men — unto the city, and lo, burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters have been taken captive!
4And David lifteth up — and the people who [are] with him — their voice and weep, till that they have no power to weep.
5And the two wives of David have been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite;
6and David hath great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people hath been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David doth strengthen himself in Jehovah his God.
7And David saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, ‘Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;’ and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto David,
8and David asketh at Jehovah, saying, ‘I pursue after this troop — do I overtake it?’ And He saith to him, ‘Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost certainly deliver.’
9And David goeth on, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, and they come in unto the brook of Besor, and those left have stood still,
10and David pursueth, he and four hundred men, (and two hundred men stand still who have been too faint to pass over the brook of Besor),
11and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, and they cause him to drink water,
12and give to him a piece of a bunch of dried figs, and two bunches of raisins, and he eateth, and his spirit returneth unto him, for he hath not eaten bread nor drunk water three days and three nights.
13And David saith to him, ‘Whose [art] thou? and whence [art] thou?’ And he saith, ‘An Egyptian youth I [am], servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsaketh me, for I have been sick three days,
14we pushed [to] the south of the Cherethite, and against that which [is] to Judah, and against the south of Caleb, and Ziklag we burned with fire.’
15And David saith unto him, ‘Dost thou bring me down unto this troop?’ and he saith, ‘Swear to me by God — thou dost not put me to death, nor dost thou shut me up into the hand of my lord — and I bring thee down unto this troop.’
16And he bringeth him down, and lo, they are spread out over the face of all the earth, eating, and drinking, and feasting, with all the great spoil which they have taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
17And David smiteth them from the twilight even unto the evening of the morrow, and there hath not escaped of them a man, except four hundred young men who have ridden on the camels, and are fled.
18And David delivereth all that the Amalekites have taken; also his two wives hath David delivered.
19And there hath not lacked to them [anything], from small unto great, and unto sons and daughters, and from the spoil, even unto all that they had taken to themselves, the whole hath David brought back,
20and David taketh the whole of the flock, and of the herd, they have led on before these cattle, and they say, ‘This [is] David's spoil.’
21And David cometh in unto the two hundred men who were too faint to go after David, and whom they cause to abide at the brook of Besor, and they go out to meet David, and to meet the people who [are] with him, and David approacheth the people, and asketh of them of welfare.
22And every bad and worthless man, of the men who have gone with David, answereth, yea, they say, ‘Because that they have not gone with us we do not give to them of the spoil which we have delivered, except each his wife and his children, and they lead away and go.
23And David saith, ‘Ye do not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given to us, and He doth preserve us, and doth give the troop which cometh against us into our hand;
24and who doth hearken to you in this thing? for as the portion of him who was brought down into battle, so also [is] the portion of him who is abiding by the vessels — alike they share.’
25And it cometh to pass from that day and forward, that he appointeth it for a statute and for an ordinance for Israel unto this day.
26And David cometh in unto Ziklag, and sendeth of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, (saying, ‘Lo, for you a blessing, of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah),’
27to those in Beth-El, and to those in South Ramoth, and to those in Jattir,
28and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa,
29and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites,
30and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-Ashan, and to those in Athach,
31and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David had gone up and down, he and his men.
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1 Samuel 30: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
1 Samuel 30
30
David rescues his soldiers' families
1It took David and his men three days to reach Ziklag. But while they had been away, the Amalekites had been raiding in the desert around there. They had attacked Ziklag, burnt it to the ground, 2and had taken away the women and children. 3When David and his men came to Ziklag, they saw the burnt out ruins and learnt that their families had been taken captive. 4They started crying and kept it up until they were too weak to cry any more. 5David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken captive with everyone else.#1 S 25.42,43.
6David was desperate. His soldiers were so upset over what had happened to their sons and daughters that they were thinking about stoning David to death. But he felt the LORD God giving him strength, 7and he said to the priest, “Abiathar, let's ask God what to do.”#1 S 22.20-23.
Abiathar brought everything he needed to get answers from God, and he went over to David. 8Then David asked the LORD, “Should I go after the people who raided our town? Can I catch up with them?”
“Go after them,” the LORD answered. “You will catch up with them, and you will rescue your families.”
9-10David led his six hundred men to Besor Gorge, but two hundred of them were too tired to go across. So they stayed behind, while David and the other four hundred men crossed the gorge.
11Some of David's men found an Egyptian out in a field and took him to David. They gave the Egyptian some bread, and he ate it. Then they gave him a drink of water, 12some dried figs, and two handfuls of raisins. This was the first time in three days he had tasted food or water. Now he felt much better.
13“Who is your master?” David asked. “And where do you come from?”
“I'm from Egypt,” the young man answered. “I'm the servant of an Amalekite, but he left me here three days ago because I was sick. 14We had attacked some towns in the desert where the Cherethites live, in the area that belongs to Judah, and in the desert where the Caleb clan lives. And we burnt down Ziklag.”
15“Will you take me to those Amalekites?” David asked.
“Yes, I will, if you promise with God as a witness that you won't kill me or hand me over to my master.”
16He led David to the Amalekites. They were eating and drinking everywhere, celebrating because of what they had taken from Philistia and Judah. 17David attacked just before sunrise the next day and fought until sunset.#30.17 just…sunset: Or “at dusk, and fought until sunset on the next day.” Four hundred Amalekites rode away on camels, but they were the only ones who escaped.
18David rescued his two wives and everyone else the Amalekites had taken from Ziklag. 19No one was missing—young or old, sons or daughters. David brought back everything that had been stolen, 20including their livestock.
David also took the sheep and cattle that the Amalekites had with them, but he kept these separate from the others. Everyone agreed that these would be David's reward.
21On the way back, David went to the two hundred men he had left at Besor Gorge, because they had been too tired to keep up with him. They came towards David and the people who were with him. When David was close enough, he greeted the two hundred men and asked how they were doing.
22Some of David's men were good-for-nothings, and they said, “Those men didn't go with us to the battle, so they don't get any of the things we took back from the Amalekites. Let them take their wives and children and go!”
23But David said:
My friends, don't be so greedy with what the LORD has given us! The LORD protected us and gave us victory over the people who attacked. 24Who would pay attention to you, anyway? Soldiers who stay behind to guard the camp get as much as those who go into battle.
25David made this a law for Israel, and it has been the same ever since.
26David went back to Ziklag with everything they had taken from the Amalekites. He sent some of these things as gifts to his friends who were leaders of Judah, and he told them, “We took these things from the LORD's enemies. Please accept them as a gift.”
27-31This is a list of the towns where David sent gifts: Bethel,#30.27-31 Bethel: Or “Bethuel” (see Joshua 19.4). Ramoth in the Southern Desert, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Racal, the towns belonging to the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach, and Hebron. He also sent gifts to the other towns where he and his men had travelled.
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