XXX. And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to aZiklag on the third day, that the bAmalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burnt it with fire; 2 and had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lift up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s ctwo wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And David was greatly distressed; dfor the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was * grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but eDavid encouraged himself in the Lord his God. 7 And David said to fAbiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. 8 And gDavid inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this htroop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. 9 So David went, he and ithe six hundred men that were with him, and came to the jbrook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the jbrook Besor.

11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; 12 and they gave him a piece of ka cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, lhis spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. 13 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. 14 We made an invasion upon the south of mthe Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of nCaleb; and we burnt Ziklag with fire. 15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. 16 And when he had brought him down, behold they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. 17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of * the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon ocamels, and fled. 18 And David precovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. 19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all. 20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, qThis is David’s spoil.

21 And David came to the rtwo hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the jbrook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he * saluted them. 22 Then answered all the wicked men and smen of Belial, of * those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. 23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. 24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but tas his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be uthat tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. 25 And it was so from that day * forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a * present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord; 27 to them which were in wBeth-el, and to them which were in xsouth Ramoth, and to them which were in yJattir, 28 and to them which were in zAroer, and to them which were in aSiphmoth, and to them which were in bEshtemoa, 29 and to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of cthe Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of dthe Kenites, 30 and to them which were in eHormah, and to them which were in Chor-fashan, and to them which were in Athach, 31 and to them which were in gHebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.