1 Samuel 30

1 And it comes to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed toward the south, and to Ziklag, and strike Ziklag, and burn 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 they take the women who [are] in it captive; they have not put anyone to death from small to great, and they lead [them] away, and go 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 comes in—and his men—to the city, and behold, [it is] burned with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters have been taken captive.

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

4 And David lifts up—and the people who [are] with him—their voice and weep, until they have no 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 the two wives of David have been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail 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 has great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people has been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David strengthens himself in his God YHWH.

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 says to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod near to me”; and Abiathar brings 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 inquires of YHWH, saying, “I pursue after this troop—do I overtake it?” And He says to him, “Pursue, for you certainly overtake, and certainly deliver.”

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 And David goes on, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, and they come to the Brook of Besor, and those left have stood still,

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

10 and David pursues, he and four hundred men (and two hundred men stand still who have been too faint to pass over the Brook of Besor),

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

11 and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him to David, and give bread to him, and he eats, and they cause him to drink water,

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 give to him a piece of a bunch of dried figs, and two bunches of raisins, and he eats, and his spirit returns to him, for he has not eaten bread nor drunk 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 says to him, “Whose [are] you? And where [are] you from?” And he says, “I [am] an Egyptian youth, servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsakes me, for I have been sick [for] three days,

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 pushed [to] the south of the Cherethite, and against that which [is] 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 says to him, “Do you bring me down to this troop?” And he says, “Swear to me by God [that] you do not put me to death, nor do you shut me up into the hand of my lord, and I bring you 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 brings him down, and behold, they are spread out over the face of all the earth, eating, and drinking, and celebrating, with all the great spoil which they have 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 strikes them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day, and there has not escaped of them a man, except four hundred young men who have ridden on the camels and flee.

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 delivers all that the Amalekites have taken; David has also delivered his two wives.

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

19 And nothing of theirs has lacked, from small to great, and to sons and daughters, and from the spoil, even to all that they had taken to themselves, David has brought back the whole,

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 takes the whole of the flock and of the herd [that] they have led on before these livestock, and they say, “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 comes to the two hundred men who were too faint to go after David, and whom they cause to abide at the Brook of Besor, and they go out to meet David, and to meet the people who [are] with him, and David approaches the people, and asks of them of welfare.

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 every bad and worthless man, of the men who have gone with David, answers, indeed, they say, “Because that they have not gone with us we do not give to them of the spoil which we have delivered, except each his wife and his children, and they lead away and go.”

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 And David says, “You do not do so, my brothers, with that which YHWH has given to us, and He preserves us, and gives the troop which comes 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 listens to you in this thing? For as the portion of him who was brought down into battle, so also [is] the portion of him who is abiding by the vessels—they 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 comes to pass from that day and forward, that he appoints it for a statute and for 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 comes to Ziklag, and sends of the spoil to [the] elderly of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, a blessing for you of the spoil of the enemies of YHWH,”

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 Beth-El, 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—he and his men—had gone up and down.

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