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,

Three days later, when David and his men arrived at Ziklag, [they discovered that] men of the Amalek people-group had raided Ziklag and [towns in] the southern part of Judah. They had destroyed Ziklag and burned down all the buildings.

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 captured the women [and the children] and everyone else, and had taken them away. But they had not killed anyone.

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 Ziklag, they saw that the town had been burned, and that their wives and sons and daughters had been captured and taken away.

4 And David lifteth up — and the people who [are] with him — their voice and weep, till that they have no power to weep.

David and his men cried loudly, until [they were so weak that] they could not cry [any more].

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 and Abigail, had also been taken away.

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.

David’s men were threatening to [kill him by] throwing stones at him, because they were very angry because their sons and daughters [had been taken away]. David was very distressed, but Yahweh his God gave him strength.

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,

David [did not know what to do, so he] said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring to me the sacred vest.” So Abiathar brought it,

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 asked Yahweh, “Should I [and my men] pursue the men [who took our families]? Will we [be able to] catch up to them?” Yahweh answered [by means of the stones in Abiathar’s sacred pouch], “Yes, pursue them. You will catch up to them, and you will be able to rescue [your families].”

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 the 600 men who were with him left, and they came to the Besor Ravine. Some of his men stayed there [with some of their supplies].

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),

David and 400 men continued to pursue [the men who captured their families]. The other 200 men stayed there at the ravine, because they were so exhausted that they could not cross the ravine.

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,

[As David and the 400 men were going], they saw a man from Egypt in a field; so they took him to David. They gave the man some water to drink and some 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.

They also gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters/packs of raisins. The man had not had anything to eat or drink for three days and nights, but [after he ate and drank] he felt refreshed.

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,

David asked him, “Who is your master? And where do you come from?” He replied, “I am from Egypt. I am a slave of a man from the Amalek people-group. Three days ago my master left me here, because I was sick [and I was not able to go with them].

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 had raided the southern part of Judah where the Kereth people-group live, and some other towns in Judah, and the area south [of Hebron city] where the descendants of Caleb live. We also burned Ziklag [town].”

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.'

David asked him, “Can you lead us to this group of raiders?” He replied, “Yes, [I will do that] if you ask God to listen while you promise that you will not kill me or give me back to my master. If you promise that, I will take 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.

[David agreed to do that, ] so the man from Egypt led David [and his men] to where the men from the Amalek people-group were. Those men were lying on the ground, eating and drinking and celebrating because of having captured many things from the Philistia and Judah areas.

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.

David [and his men] fought against them from sunset that day until the evening of the following day. Four hundred of them escaped and rode away on camels, but none of the others escaped.

18 And David delivereth all that the Amalekites have taken; also his two wives hath David delivered.

David rescued his two wives, and he and his men got back everything else that the men of the Amalek people-group had taken.

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. They took all their people back [to Ziklag]—young people and old people, [their wives], their sons and their daughters. They also recovered all the other things that the men of the Amalek people-group had taken from Ziklag.

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.'

They took with them the sheep and cattle that had been captured, and his men caused those animals to go in front of them, saying, “These are animals that we captured in the battle; they belong to David!”

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.

David and his men got back to where the other 200 men were waiting, the men who did not go with David because they were very exhausted. They had stayed at Besor Ravine. [When they saw David and his men coming], they went out to greet them. And David [greeted them and] said to them, “I hope that things are going well with you!”

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 some of the men who had gone with David, men who were evil and troublemakers, said, “These 200 men did not go with us. So we should not give to them any of the things that we recovered/captured. Each of them should take only his wife and children and go [back to their homes].”

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;

David replied, “No, my fellow Israelis, it would not be right to divide up like that the things that Yahweh has allowed us to capture. Yahweh has protected us and enabled us to defeat the enemies who attacked our town.

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 pay attention to you if you say things like that?/No one will pay attention to you if you say things like that.) [RHQ] The men who stayed here with our supplies will get the same amount that the men who went into the battle will get. They will all receive the same amount.”

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.

David made that to be a law [DOU] for the Israeli people, and that is still a law in Israel.

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 [and all the others] arrived in Ziklag, David sent to his friends who were leaders in Judah some of the things that they had captured from the Amalek people-group. He said to them, “Here is a present for you. These are things that we took from Yahweh’s enemies.”

27 to those in Beth-El, and to those in South Ramoth, and to those in Jattir,

[Here is a list of the cities and towns to whose leaders David sent gifts: ] Bethel, Ramoth in the southern part of Judah, Jattir,

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

Aroer, Siphmoth, 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,

Racal, the cities where the descendants of Jehrameel lived and the cities where the Ken people-group lived,

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

Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach,

31 and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David had gone up and down, he and his men.

Hebron, and all the other places where David and his men had gone [when they were hiding from Saul].