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 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 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 that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
5 And David' two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke 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 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech' son, I pray you, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
8 And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
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 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred stayed behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
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 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 And David said to him, To whom belong you? and from where are you? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.
14 We made an invasion on the south of the Cherethites, and on the coast which belongs to Judah, and on the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
15 And David said to him, Can you bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear to me by God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this company.
16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad on 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 And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode on camels, and fled.
18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.
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 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David' spoil.
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 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 Then said David, You shall not do so, my brothers, with that which the LORD has given us, who has preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.
24 For who will listen to you in this matter? but as his part is that goes down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarries by the stuff: they shall part alike.
25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to 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 them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,
28 And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,
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 And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach,
31 And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.
1 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had raided the south and Ziklag, struck Ziklag and burned it with fire,
2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.
3 So David and his men came into the city, and behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.
4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep.
5 And Davids two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widowed wife of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.
6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people had become bitter, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelechs son, Please bring the ephod here to me. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8 And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, Pursue, for you shall reach to overtake them, and rescue to recover all.
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind.
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who had become too exhausted to cross over the Brook Besor.
11 And they found a man from Egypt in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water.
12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his spirit revived; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights.
13 And David said to him, To whom do you belong, and where are you from? And he said, I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick.
14 We had raided the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory of Judah, and the southern area of Caleb; and we had burned Ziklag with fire.
15 And David said to him, Can you bring me down to this troop? So he said, Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop.
16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread out over the face of the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoils which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
17 And David struck them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.
19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoils or anything which they had taken from them; David brought back all.
20 And David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, This is Davids spoils.
21 And David came to the two hundred men who had become too exhausted to go after David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people with him. And when David came near the people, he asked after their welfare.
22 Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoils that we have recovered, except for every mans wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.
23 But David said, My brethren, you shall not do so with what Jehovah has given to us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us into our hand.
24 For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share together.
25 So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoils to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Here is a present for you from the spoils of the enemies of Jehovah;
27 to those in Bethel, to those in Ramoth of the South, to those in Jattir,
28 to those in Aroer, to those in Siphmoth, to those in Eshtemoa,
29 to those in Rachal, to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those in the cities of the Kenites,
30 to those in Hormah, to those in Chorashan, to those in Athach,
31 to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men had traversed.