1 Samuel 30

1 And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire;

On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

2 and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way.

They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.

3 And 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.

When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

8 And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake [them] and shalt certainly recover.

and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”

9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind.

So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind

10 And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the torrent Besor.

because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.

11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink,

Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat—

12 and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights.

a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.

13 And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

14 We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and against what [belongs] to Judah, and against the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither put me to death nor deliver me up into the hand of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

16 And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over the whole land, 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.

So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

17 And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken: and David recovered his two wives.

So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

19 And there was nothing missed by them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken: David brought all back.

Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.

20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before the other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

21 And David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and whom they had left behind at the torrent Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him; and David drew near to the people and saluted them.

When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him from the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,

22 And all the wicked men, and [men] of Belial, of those that had gone with David, answered and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them [aught] of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead [them] away and depart.

but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah has given us, who has preserved us, and given the troop that came against us into our hand.

But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.

24 And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike.

Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

25 And it was [so] from that day forward; and he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute as an ordinance for Israel to this very day.

26 And David came to Ziklag, and he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:

When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

27 to those in Bethel, and to those in south Ramoth, and to those in Jattir,

He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

28 and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa,

to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa;

29 and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites,

to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;

30 and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-ashan, and to those in Athach,

to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;

31 and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men went about.

and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.