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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1 Samuel 30
30
David’s War with the Amalekites
1On the third day, when David and his men arrived at Ziklag, he found that the Amalekites had raided southern Judah and Ziklag, attacking Ziklag and burning it. 2They captured the women and everyone, young and old, but they had not killed anyone. They had only taken them away.
3When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found the town had been burned and 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—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal from Carmel. 6The men in the army were threatening to kill David with stones, which greatly upset David. Each man was sad and angry because his sons and daughters had been captured, but David found strength in the Lord his God. 7David said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the holy vest.”
8Then David asked the Lord, “Should I chase the people who took our families? Will I catch them?”
The Lord answered, “Chase them. You will catch them, and you will succeed in saving your families.”
9David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine, where some of the men stayed. 10David and four hundred men kept up the chase. The other two hundred men stayed behind because they were too tired to cross the ravine.
11They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave the Egyptian some water to drink and some food to eat. 12And they gave him a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. Then he felt better, because 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, the slave of an Amalekite. Three days ago my master left me, because I was sick. 14We had raided the southern area of the Kerethites, the land of Judah, and the southern area of Caleb. We burned Ziklag, as well.”
15David asked him, “Can you lead me to the people who took our families?”
He answered, “Yes, if you promise me before God 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 and celebrating with the things they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. 17David fought them from sunset until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode off on their camels. 18David got his two wives back and everything the Amalekites had taken. 19Nothing was missing. David brought back everyone, young and old, sons and daughters. He recovered the valuable things and everything the Amalekites had taken. 20David took all the sheep and cattle, and his men made these animals go in front, saying, “They are David’s prize.”
21Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too tired to follow him, who had stayed at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the people with him. When he came near, David greeted the men at the ravine.
22But the evil men and troublemakers among those who followed David said, “Since these two hundred men didn’t go with us, we shouldn’t give them any of the things we recovered. Just let each man 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 protected us and given us the enemy who attacked us. 24Who will listen to what you say? The share will be the same for the one who stayed with the supplies as for the one who went into battle. All will share alike.” 25David made this an order and rule for Israel, which continues even today.
26When David arrived in Ziklag, 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 also sent some things to the leaders in Bethel, Ramoth in the southern part of Judah, Jattir, 28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29Racal, the cities of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, 30Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach, 31Hebron, and to the people in all the other places where he and his men had been.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.