1 Samuel 30
- 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's 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 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 abode 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 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 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's 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, 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
- 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 it was so from that day forward, that he made it a
statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.
- 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 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.
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