29The Philistines gathered all their soldiers at Aphek. Israel camped by the spring at Jezreel. ²The Philistine kings were marching with their groups of a hundred and a thousand men. David and his men were marching behind Achish. ³The Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish told them, “This is David. He served Saul king of Israel, but he has been with me for over a year now. I have found nothing wrong in David since the time he left Saul.”

⁴But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send David back to the city you gave him. He cannot go with us into battle. If he does, we’ll have an enemy in our own camp. He could please his king by killing our own men. ⁵David is the one the Israelites dance and sing about, saying:

‘Saul has killed thousands of his enemies,

but David has killed tens of thousands.’ ”

⁶So Achish called David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are loyal. I would be pleased to have you serve in my army. Since the day you came to me, I have found no wrong in you. But the other kings don’t trust you. ⁷Go back in peace. Don’t do anything to displease the Philistine kings.”

⁸David asked, “What wrong have I done? What evil have you found in me from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go fight your enemies, my lord and king?”

⁹Achish answered, “I know you are as good as an angel from God. But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘David must not go with us into battle.’ ¹⁰Early in the morning you and your master’s servants should leave. Get up as soon as it is light and go.”

¹¹So David and his men got up early in the morning and went back to the country of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David’s War with the Amalekites

30On 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.

The Death of Saul

31The Philistines fought against Israel, and the Israelites ran away from them. Many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. ²The Philistines fought hard against Saul and his sons, killing his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. ³The fighting was heavy around Saul. The archers shot him, and he was badly wounded. ⁴He said to the officer who carried his armor, “Pull out your sword and kill me. Then those uncircumcised men won’t make fun of me and kill me.” But Saul’s officer refused, because he was afraid. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. ⁵When the officer saw that Saul was dead, he threw himself on his own sword, and he died with Saul. ⁶So Saul, his three sons, and the officer who carried his armor died together that day.

⁷When the Israelites who lived across the Jezreel Valley and those who lived across the Jordan River saw how the Israelite army had run away, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived there.

⁸The next day when the Philistines came to take all the valuable things from the dead soldiers, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹They cut off Saul’s head and took off his armor. Then they sent messengers through all the land of the Philistines to tell the news in the temple of their idols and to their people. ¹⁰They put Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹When the people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²the brave men of Jabesh marched all night and came to Beth Shan. They removed the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and brought them to Jabesh. There they burned the bodies. ¹³They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh fasted for seven days.

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