1 Samuel, 30

1. Now by the time David and his men reached Ziklag three days later, the Amalekites had raided the Negeb and Ziklag; they had sacked Ziklag and burnt it down.

1. And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

2. They had taken the women prisoner, and everyone who was there, both small and great. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off and gone away.

2. And had taken the women captives, that [were] therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried [them] away, and went on their way.

3. When David and his men arrived, they found the town burnt down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

3. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, [it was] burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

4. Then David and the people with him wept aloud till they were too weak to weep any more.

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

5. David's two wives had been captured: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail widow of Nabal of Carmel.

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

6. David was in great trouble, since the people were talking of stoning him; the people all felt very bitter, each man for his own sons and daughters. But David took courage from Yahweh his God.

6. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

7. To the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, David said, 'Bring me the ephod.' Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

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

8. David then consulted Yahweh, 'Shall I go in pursuit of these raiders? Will I overtake them?' The answer was, 'Go in pursuit; you will certainly overtake them and rescue the captives.'

8. And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake [them], and without fail recover [all].

9. David accordingly set off with the six hundred men who were with him and reached the torrent of Besor.

9. So David went, he and the six hundred men that [were] with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.

10. David then continued the pursuit with four hundred men, two hundred staying behind who were too exhausted to cross the torrent of Besor.

10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

11. Out in the country they found an Egyptian and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and some water to drink;

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

12. they also gave him a piece of fig cake and two bunches of raisins; he ate these and his spirits revived -- he had had nothing to eat or drink for three days and three nights.

12. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk [any] water, three days and three nights.

13. David then said to him, 'Whose man are you and where do you come from?' He replied, 'I am a young Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite; my master abandoned me because I fell sick three days ago.

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

14. We raided the Negeb of the Cherethites, and the Negeb of Judah, and the Negeb of Caleb too, and we burnt Ziklag down.'

14. We made an invasion [upon] the south of the Cherethites, and upon [the coast] which [belongeth] to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

15. David said, 'Will you guide me to these raiders?' He replied, 'Swear to me by God not to kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will guide you to these raiders.'

15. And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

16. He guided him to them, and there they were, scattered over the whole countryside, eating, drinking and celebrating, on account of the enormous booty which they had brought back from the territory of the Philistines and the territory of Judah.

16. And when he had brought him down, behold, [they were] spread abroad upon all the earth, 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.

17. David slaughtered them from dawn until the evening of the following day. No one escaped, except four hundred young men who mounted camels and fled.

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

18. He rescued everything that the Amalekites had taken -- David also rescued his two wives.

18. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.

19. Nothing of theirs was lost, whether small or great, from the booty or sons and daughters -- everything that had been taken from them; David recovered everything.

19. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any [thing] that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

20. They captured the flocks and herds as well and drove them in front of him. 'This is David's booty,' they shouted.

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

21. When David reached the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and whom he had left at the torrent of Besor, they came out to meet David and the party accompanying him; David approached with his party and greeted them.

21. And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that [were] with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.

22. But all the rogues and scoundrels among the men who had gone with David began saying, 'Since they did not go with us, we shall not give them any of the booty which we have rescued, except that each of them can have his wife and children. Let them take them away and be off.'

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

23. But David said, 'Do not behave like this, brothers, with what Yahweh has given us; he has protected us and has handed over to us the raiders who attacked us.

23. Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.

24. Who would agree with you on this? No: As the share of the man who goes into battle, so is the share of the man who stays with the baggage. They will share alike.'

24. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part [is] that goeth down to the battle, so [shall] his part [be] that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.

25. And from that day on, he made that a rule and custom for Israel, which obtains to the present day.

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

26. When David reached Ziklag, he sent parts of the booty to the elders of Judah, town by town, with this message, 'Here is a present for you, taken from the booty of Yahweh's enemies':

26. And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, [even] to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;

27. to those in Bethel, to those in Ramoth of the Negeb,

27. To [them] which [were] in Bethel, and to [them] which [were] in south Ramoth, and to [them] which [were] in Jattir,

28. to those in Jattir, to those in Aroer, to those in Siphmoth, to those in Eshtemoa,

28. And to [them] which [were] in Aroer, and to [them] which [were] in Siphmoth, and to [them] which [were] in Eshtemoa,

29. to those in Carmel, to those in the towns of Jerahmeel, to those in the towns of the Kenites,

29. And to [them] which [were] in Rachal, and to [them] which [were] in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to [them] which [were] in the cities of the Kenites,

30. to those in Hormah, to those in Borashan, to those in Athach,

30. And to [them] which [were] in Hormah, and to [them] which [were] in Chorashan, and to [them] which [were] in Athach,

31. to those in Hebron and to all the places which David and his men had frequented.

31. And to [them] which [were] in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.