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 inquired 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 chal, 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
Chor-ashan, 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. |