1 Samuel 30

1When David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down.

2They had taken captive the women who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off and gone on their way.

3When David and his men came to the town, they found it burned down, and their wives, sons, and daughters taken captive.

4David and the people with him wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.

5David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

6David was in great danger, because the people were talking of stoning him; all the people were bitter in spirit, each one over his sons and daughters. But David found strength in Yahweh his God.

7David said to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

8David inquired of Yahweh, “Should I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and will certainly rescue the captives.”

9So David set out, he and the six hundred men with him, and they came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind.

10David and four hundred men kept up the pursuit, while two hundred men stayed behind because they were too exhausted to cross the Besor Valley.

11They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink.

12They also gave him a piece of a cake of pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. When he had eaten, his strength returned, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

13David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from?” He said, “I am a young Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago because I fell sick.

14We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, the territory belonging to Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag down.”

15David asked him, “Will you lead me down to this raiding party?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will lead you down to this raiding party.”

16So he led him down, and there they were, spread out over the whole area, eating and drinking and celebrating because of all the great plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

17David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled.

18David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.

19Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought it all back.

20David also took all the flocks and herds. The people drove them ahead of the other livestock and said, “This is David’s plunder.”

21Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and had been left at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the people with him. When David approached the people, he greeted them.

22But all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the plunder we recovered, except that each man may take his wife and children and go.”

23But David said, “You must not do that, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the raiding party that came against us.

24Who would listen to you in this matter? The share of the one who goes down into battle is to be the same as the share of the one who stays with the supplies. They will share alike.”

25From that day on he made this a statute and a rule for Israel, and it remains so to this day.

26When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, his friends, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of Yahweh’s enemies.”

27He sent it to those in Bethel, Ramoth of the Negev, and Jattir,

28to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa,

29to those in Racal, in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites,

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

31to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David and his men had roamed.