1 Samuel 30

¹ Now by the time David and his men reached Ziklag three days later, the Amalekites had raided theNegeb and Ziklag; they had sacked Ziklag and burnt it down.

² They had taken the women prisoner, and everyone who was there, both smal and great. They had notkil ed anyone, but had carried them off and gone away.

³ When David and his men arrived, they found the town burnt down and their wives and sons anddaughters taken captive.

⁴ Then David and the people with him wept aloud til they were too weak to weep any more.

⁵ David's two wives had been captured: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail widow of Nabal of Carmel.

⁶ David was in great trouble, since the people were talking of stoning him; the people al felt very bitter,each man for his own sons and daughters. But David took courage from Yahweh his God.

⁷ To the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, David said, 'Bring me the ephod.' Abiathar brought the ephodto David.

⁸ David then consulted Yahweh, 'Shal I go in pursuit of these raiders? Wil I overtake them?' Theanswer was, 'Go in pursuit; you will certainly overtake them and rescue the captives.'

⁹ David accordingly set off with the six hundred men who were with him and reached the torrent ofBesor.

¹⁰ David then continued the pursuit with four hundred men, two hundred staying behind who were tooexhausted to cross the torrent of Besor.

¹¹ Out in the country they found an Egyptian and brought him to David. They gave him some bread toeat and some water to drink;

¹² they also gave him a piece of fig cake and two bunches of raisins; he ate these and his spirits revived-- he had had nothing to eat or drink for three days and three nights.

¹³ David then said to him, 'Whose man are you and where do you come from?' He replied, 'I am ayoung Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite; my master abandoned me because I fel sick three days ago.

¹⁴ We raided the Negeb of the Cherethites, and the Negeb of Judah, and the Negeb of Caleb too, andwe burnt Ziklag down.'

¹⁵ David said, 'Wil you guide me to these raiders?' He replied, 'Swear to me by God not to kill me orhand me over to my master, and I wil guide you to these raiders.'

¹⁶ He guided him to them, and there they were, scattered over the whole countryside, eating, drinkingand celebrating, on account of the enormous booty which they had brought back from the territory of thePhilistines and the territory of Judah.

¹⁷ David slaughtered them from dawn until the evening of the following day. No one escaped, exceptfour hundred young men who mounted camels and fled.

¹⁸ He rescued everything that the Amalekites had taken -- David also rescued his two wives.

¹⁹ Nothing of theirs was lost, whether smal or great, from the booty or sons and daughters -- everythingthat had been taken from them; David recovered everything.

²⁰ They captured the flocks and herds as wel and drove them in front of him. 'This is David's booty,'they shouted.

²¹ When David reached the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and whom hehad left at the torrent of Besor, they came out to meet David and the party accompanying him; Davidapproached with his party and greeted them.

²² But al the rogues and scoundrels among the men who had gone with David began saying, 'Sincethey did not go with us, we shal not give them any of the booty which we have rescued, except that each ofthem can have his wife and children. Let them take them away and be off.'

²³ But David said, 'Do not behave like this, brothers, with what Yahweh has given us; he has protectedus and has handed over to us the raiders who attacked us.

²⁴ Who would agree with you on this? No: As the share of the man who goes into battle, so is the shareof the man who stays with the baggage. They wil share alike.'

²⁵ And from that day on, he made that a rule and custom for Israel, which obtains to the present day.

²⁶ When David reached Ziklag, he sent parts of the booty to the elders of Judah, town by town, with thismessage, 'Here is a present for you, taken from the booty of Yahweh's enemies':

²⁷ to those in Bethel, to those in Ramoth of the Negeb,

²⁸ to those in Jattir, to those in Aroer, to those in Siphmoth, to those in Eshtemoa,

²⁹ to those in Carmel, to those in the towns of Jerahmeel, to those in the towns of the Kenites,

³⁰ to those in Hormah, to those in Borashan, to those in Athach,

³¹ to those in Hebron and to al the places which David and his men had frequented.