< 1 Samuel 30 >
1 And it cometh to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed unto the south, and unto Ziklag, and smite 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 captive the women who [are] in it; from small unto great they have not put any one to death, and they lead 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 cometh in — and his men — unto the city, and lo, burnt 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 lifteth up — and the people who [are] with him — their voice and weep, till that 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 hath great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people hath been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David doth strengthen 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 saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, 'Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;' and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto 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 asketh at Jehovah, saying, 'I pursue after this troop — do I overtake it?' And He saith to him, 'Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost 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 goeth on, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, and they come in unto 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 pursueth, 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 unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, 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 eateth, and his spirit returneth unto him, for he hath not eaten bread nor drunk water 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 saith to him, 'Whose [art] thou? and whence [art] thou?' And he saith, 'An Egyptian youth I [am], servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsaketh me, for I have been sick 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 Ziklag we burned 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 saith unto him, 'Dost thou bring me down unto this troop?' and he saith, 'Swear to me by God — thou dost not put me to death, nor dost thou shut me up into the hand of my lord — and I bring thee down unto 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 bringeth him down, and lo, they are spread out over the face of all the earth, eating, and drinking, and feasting, 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 smiteth them from the twilight even unto the evening of the morrow, and there hath not escaped of them a man, except four hundred young men who have ridden on the camels, and are 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 delivereth all that the Amalekites have taken; also his two wives hath David delivered.
So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
19 And there hath not lacked to them [anything], from small unto great, and unto sons and daughters, and from the spoil, even unto all that they had taken to themselves, the whole hath David brought 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 taketh the whole of the flock, and of the herd, they have led on before these cattle, 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 cometh in unto 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 approacheth the people, and asketh 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, answereth, yea, 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 saith, 'Ye do not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given to us, and He doth preserve us, and doth give the troop which cometh 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 doth hearken 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 — alike they share.'
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 cometh to pass from that day and forward, that he appointeth it for a statute and for an ordinance for Israel unto 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 cometh in unto Ziklag, and sendeth of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, (saying, 'Lo, for you a blessing, 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 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 had gone up and down, he and his men.
and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.