29The Philistines gathered their whole army together at Aphek. Israel’s army camped by the spring of water at Jezreel. ²The Philistine rulers marched out in companies of hundreds and thousands. David and his men were marching with Achish behind the others.

³The commanders of the Philistines asked, “Why are these Hebrews here?”

Achish replied, “That’s David, isn’t it? Wasn’t he an officer of Saul, the king of Israel? He has already been with me for more than a year. I haven’t found any fault in him. That’s been true from the day he left Saul until now.”

⁴But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish. They said, “Send David back. Let him return to the town you gave him. He must not go with us into battle. If he does, he’ll turn against us during the fighting. In fact, he might even cut off the heads of our own men. What better way could he choose to win back his master’s favor? ⁵Isn’t David the one the Israelites sang about when they danced? They sang,

“ ‘Saul has killed thousands of men.

David has killed tens of thousands.’ ”

⁶So Achish called David over to him. He said, “You have been faithful to me. And that’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. I haven’t found any fault in you. That’s been true from the day you came to me until now. But the Philistine rulers aren’t pleased to have you come along. ⁷So go back home in peace. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t please the Philistine rulers.”

⁸“But what have I done?” asked David. “What have you found against me from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go and fight against your enemies? After all, you are my king and master.”

⁹Achish answered, “You have been as pleasing to me as an angel of God. But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘We don’t want David to go up with us into battle.’ ¹⁰So get up early in the morning. Take with you the men who used to serve Saul. Leave as soon as the sun begins to come up.”

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

David Destroys the Amalekites

30On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag. The Amalekites had attacked the people of the Negev Desert. They had also attacked Ziklag and burned it. ²They had captured the women and everyone else who was in Ziklag. They had taken as prisoners young people and old people alike. But they didn’t kill any of them. Instead, they carried them off as they went on their way.

³David and his men came to Ziklag. They saw that it had been destroyed by fire. They found out that their wives and sons and daughters had been captured. ⁴So David and his men began to sob out loud. They sobbed until they couldn’t sob anymore. ⁵David’s two wives had been captured. Their names were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel. Abigail was Nabal’s widow.

⁶David was greatly troubled. His men were even talking about killing him by throwing stones at him. All of them were very bitter because their sons and daughters had been taken away. But David was made strong by the Lord his God.

⁷Then David spoke to the priest Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech. He said, “Bring me the linen apron.” Abiathar brought it to him. ⁸David asked the Lord for advice. He said, “Should I chase after the men who attacked Ziklag? If I do, will I catch up with them?”

“Chase after them,” the Lord answered. “You will certainly catch up with them. You will succeed in saving those who were captured.”

⁹David and his 600 men came to the Besor Valley. Some of them stayed behind there. ¹⁰That’s because 200 of them were too tired to go across the valley. But David and the other 400 continued the chase.

¹¹David’s men found an Egyptian in a field. They brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat. ¹²They gave him part of a cake of pressed figs. They also gave him two raisin cakes. After he ate them, he felt as good as new. That’s because he hadn’t eaten any food for three days and three nights. He hadn’t drunk any water during that time either.

¹³David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?”

The man said, “I’m from Egypt. I’m the slave of an Amalekite. My master deserted me when I became ill three days ago. ¹⁴We attacked the people in the Negev Desert of the Kerethites. We attacked the territory that belongs to Judah. We attacked the people in the Negev Desert of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”

¹⁵David asked him, “Can you lead me down to the men who attacked Ziklag?”

He answered, “Take an oath in the name of God. Promise me that you won’t kill me. Promise that you won’t hand me over to my master. Then I’ll take you down to them.”

¹⁶He led David down to where the men were. They were scattered all over the countryside. They were eating and drinking and dancing wildly. That’s because they had taken a large amount of goods from those they had attacked. They had taken it from the land of the Philistines and from the people of Judah.

¹⁷David fought against them from sunset until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped except 400 young men. They rode off on camels and got away.

¹⁸David got everything back that the Amalekites had taken. That included his two wives. ¹⁹Nothing was missing. Not one young person or old person or boy or girl was missing. None of the goods or anything else the Amalekites had taken was missing. David brought everything back. ²⁰He brought back all of the flocks and herds. His men drove them on ahead of the other livestock. They said, “Here’s what David has captured.”

²¹Then David came to the 200 men who had been too tired to follow him. They had been left behind in the Besor Valley. They came out to welcome David and the people who were with him. As David and his men approached, he greeted them. ²²But some of the men who had gone out with David were evil. They wanted to stir up trouble. They said, “The 200 men didn’t go out into battle with us. So we won’t share with them the goods we brought back. But each man can take his wife and children and go home.”

²³David replied, “No, my friends. You must not hold back their share of what the Lord has given us. He has kept us safe. He has handed over to us the men who attacked Ziklag. ²⁴So no one will pay any attention to what you are saying. Each man who stayed with the supplies will receive the same share as each man who went down to the battle. Everyone’s share will be the same.” ²⁵David made that a law and a rule for Israel. It has been followed from that day until now.

²⁶David arrived in Ziklag. He sent some of the goods to the elders of Judah. They were his friends. He said, “Here’s a present for you. It’s part of the things we took from the Lord’s enemies.”

²⁷He sent some goods to the elders who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir. ²⁸He sent some to those who were in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa ²⁹and Racal. He sent some to those who were in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites. ³⁰He sent some to those who were in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach ³¹and Hebron. He also sent some to those who were in all of the other places where he and his men had wandered around.

Saul Takes His Own Life

31The Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from them. But many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines kept chasing Saul and his sons. They killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ³The fighting was heavy around Saul. Men who were armed with bows and arrows caught up with him. They shot their arrows at him and wounded him badly.

⁴Saul spoke to the man who was carrying his armor. He said, “Pull out your sword. Stick it through me. If you don’t, those fellows who aren’t circumcised will come. They’ll stick their swords through me and hurt me badly.”

But the man was terrified. He wouldn’t do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵The man saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died with him.

⁶Saul and his three sons died together that same day. The man who carried his armor also died with them that day. So did all of Saul’s men.

⁷The Israelites who lived along the valley saw that their army had run away. So did those who lived across the Jordan River. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and settled down in them.

⁸The day after the Philistines had won the battle, they came to take what they wanted from the dead bodies. They found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹So they cut off Saul’s head. They took his armor from his body. Then they sent messengers through the whole land of the Philistines. They announced the news in the temple where they had set up statues of their gods. They also announced it among their people.

¹⁰They put Saul’s armor in the temple where they had set up statues of goddesses that were named after Ashtoreth. They hung his body up on the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹The people of Jabesh Gilead heard about what the Philistines had done to Saul. ¹²So all of their brave men traveled through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan. They brought them to Jabesh. There they burned them.

¹³Then they got the bones of Saul and his sons and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh. They didn’t eat anything for seven days.

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