1 Samuel 30

David’s Conflict with the Amalekites

30Now it happened, when David and his men came to ^aZiklag, on the third day, that the ^bAmalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, ²and had taken captive the ^cwomen and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. ³So David and his men came to the city, and there 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 lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. ⁵And David’s two ^dwives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. ⁶Now David was greatly distressed, for ^ethe people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was ¹grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. ^fBut David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

^7gThen David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And ^hAbiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸ⁱSo David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”

And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

⁹So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. ¹⁰But David pursued, he and four hundred men; ^jfor two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.

¹¹Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. ¹²And they gave him a piece of ^ka cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So ^lwhen he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?”

And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. ¹⁴We made an invasion of the southern area of ^mthe Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area ⁿof Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

¹⁵And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?”

So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my ^omaster, and I will take you down to this troop.”

¹⁶And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, ^peating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil 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 four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. ¹⁸So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. ¹⁹And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; ^qDavid recovered all. ²⁰Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

²¹Now David came to the ^rtwo hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he ²greeted them. ²²Then all the wicked and ^sworthless ³men of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.”

²³But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. ²⁴For who will heed you in this matter? But ^tas his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” ²⁵So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the ⁴spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord”—²⁷to those who were in Bethel, those who were in ^uRamoth of the South, those who were in ^vJattir, ²⁸those who were in ^wAroer, those who were in ^xSiphmoth, those who were in ^yEshtemoa, ²⁹those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of ^zthe Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the ^aKenites, ³⁰those who were in ^bHormah, those who were in ⁵Chorashan, those who were in Athach, ³¹those who were in ^cHebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to ^drove.