CHAPTER 30
On the third
day
David
and his men
arrived
in Ziklag,
and the Amalekites
had raided
the Negev,
attacked
Ziklag,
and burned it down.
They had taken captive
the women
and all who were
there,
both young
and
old.
They had not killed
anyone,
but had carried them off
as they went
on their way.
When David
and his men
came
to the city,
they found
it burned down
and their wives
and sons
and daughters
taken captive.
So David
and the troops
with him
lifted up
their voices
and wept
until
they had no
strength
left to weep.
David’s
two
wives,
Ahinoam
of Jezreel
and Abigail
the widow
of Nabal
of Carmel,
had been taken captive.
And David
was greatly
distressed
because
the people
spoke
of stoning him,
because
the soul
of every man
grieved
for
his sons
and
daughters.
But David
found strength
in the LORD
his God.
Then David
said
to
Abiathar
the priest,
the son
of Ahimelech,
“Bring
me
the ephod.”
So Abiathar
brought
it
to
him,
and David
inquired
of the LORD:
“Should I pursue
these
raiders?
Will I overtake them?”
“Pursue
them,”
the LORD replied,
“for you will surely
overtake them
and rescue the captives.”
because
two hundred
men
were too exhausted
to cross
the brook.
But David
and four
hundred
men
continued in pursuit.
Now his men found
an Egyptian
in the field
and brought
him to
David.
They gave
the man
water
to drink
and food
to eat—
a piece
of a fig cake
and two
clusters of raisins.
So he ate
and was revived,
for
he had not
had any
food
or
water
for three
days
and three
nights.
Then David
asked him,
“To whom
do you belong,
and where
are you from?”
“I am
an Egyptian,”
he replied,
“the slave
of an Amalekite.
My master
abandoned me
three
days ago
when
I fell ill.
We
raided
the Negev
of the Cherethites,
the territory of Judah,
and the Negev
of Caleb,
and we burned down
Ziklag.”
“Will you lead
me to
these
raiders?”
David
asked.
And the man replied,
“Swear
to me
by God
that you will not
kill me
or
deliver me
into the hands
of my master,
and I will lead
you to them.”
So he led David down,
and there were the Amalekites
spread out
over
all
the land,
eating,
drinking,
and celebrating
the great
amount of plunder
they had taken
from the land
of the Philistines
and the land
of Judah.
And David
struck them down
from twilight
until
the evening
of the next day.
Not
a man
escaped,
except
four
hundred
young
men
who
fled,
riding off
on
camels.
Nothing
was missing,
young
or
old,
son
or daughter,
or any
of the plunder
the Amalekites had taken.
David
brought everything
back.
And he
recovered
all
the flocks
and herds,
which his men drove
ahead of
the other livestock,
calling out,
“This
is David’s
plunder!”
When David
came
to
the two hundred
men
who
had been too exhausted
to follow
him
from the Brook
of Besor,
they came out
to meet
him
and
the troops
with him.
As David
approached
the men,
he greeted
them,
but all
the wicked
and worthless
men
among those who
had gone
with
David
said,
“Because
they did not
go
with us,
we will not
share with them
the plunder
we recovered,
except
for each
man’s wife
and children.
They may take
them and go."
But David
said,
“My brothers,
you must not
do
this
with what
the LORD
has given us.
He has protected
us
and delivered
into our hands
the raiders
who came
against us.
Who
will listen
to your proposal?
The share
of the one who went
to battle
will match the share
of the one who stayed
with
the supplies.
They will share
alike.”
And so it has been
from that
day
forward.
David established this
statute
as an ordinance
for Israel
to
this very
day.
When David
arrived
in
Ziklag,
he sent
some of the plunder
to his friends,
the elders
of Judah,
saying,
“Here
is a gift
for you
from the plunder
of the LORD’s
enemies.”