1 Samuel 29–31

David Leaves the Service of Achish

29Now the Philistines assembled all their forces at Aphek, and Israel was encamped at the spring that is in Jezreel. ²The rulers of the Philistines were passing on according to hundreds and thousands, David and his men passing on at the rear with Achish. ³Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me for days and years?^a I have not found anything threatening in him from the day of his desertion until this day!” ⁴But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, “Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men? ⁵Is this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,

but David his ten thousands’?”

⁶So Achish called David and said to him, “As Yahweh lives,^b certainly you were honest, and I am pleased to have you marching with me^c in the campaign.^d For I have not found any wrong in you from the day you came to me until this day, but in the eyes of the rulers, you are not good. ⁷So then, return and go in peace, so that you do not do something that displeases^e the rulers of the Philistines.” ⁸Then David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day that I entered your service^f until this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹And Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are good in my eyes, like an angel of God! However, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us into the battle.’ ¹⁰So then, rise early in the morning, you and the servants of your lord who came with you. When you rise early in the morning and it is light enough for you, leave. ¹¹So David set out early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David Recovers His Loved Ones

30Now^a when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire. ²They took captive the women^b who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest.^c They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way. ³When David and his men came to the city, they saw,^d and it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep. ⁵Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel^e and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶And David was in a very precarious situation,^f for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each one over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.

⁷Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here for me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.” ⁹So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi^g Besor, but the rest remained. ¹⁰David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.

¹¹Then they found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David, and they gave him food and he ate; they also gave him water. ¹²They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and this revived him,^h because he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong,ⁱ and from where are you? The young man said, “I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago. ¹⁴We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and that which belongs to Judah and then the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” ¹⁵So David asked him, “Will you take me down to this band of raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and that you will not deliver me into my master’s hand! Then I will take you down to this band.” ¹⁶So he took him down, and there they were,^j spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped except^k four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. ¹⁸So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; David also rescued his two wives. ¹⁹None of theirs was missing from the smallest to the greatest,^l even sons and daughters, from the plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything. ²⁰And David took all of the sheep,^m and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, “This is David’s plunder.”

²¹Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to followⁿ David; they had left them behind at the Wadi^o Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and asked them how they were doing.^{p 22}Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder which we recovered, except^q each man may take his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!” ²³But David said to them, “You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the raiding band that came against us into our hand. ²⁴And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike.” ²⁵So^r from that day and beyond, he made it a rule and a regulation for Israel until this day.

²⁶Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is^s a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!” ²⁷It was for those in Bethel, for those in Ramoth of the Negev, for those in Jattir, ²⁸for those in Aroer, for those in Siphmoth, for those in Eshtemoa, ²⁹for those in Racal, for those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, for those in the towns of the Kenites, ³⁰for those in Hormah, for those in Bor Ashan, for those in Athach, ³¹for those in Hebron, and for all the places where David and his men had roamed.^t

Saul and Jonathan Die on Mount Gilboa

31Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ²And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. ³Saul was in the thick of the battle,^a and the archers^b spotted^c him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. ⁴Then Saul said to his armor bearer,^d “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised do not come and thrust me through and make a fool of me!” But his armor bearer^e was not willing to do so because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. ⁵And when his armor bearer^f saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶So Saul died, and his three sons, his armor bearer,^g and all his men together that same day.

⁷And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those who were beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled. Thus the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸And then^h the next day, the Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent messengers around in the land of the Philistines to proclaim victory in the templesⁱ of their idols and to the people. ¹⁰And they put his armor in the temple^j of the Ashtoreth,^k and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan. ¹¹When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard about it, what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all of the valiant men^l set out and went all night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. ¹³Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.