30 And it came to pass, when David and his men had 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 captive, who 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 captive.

⁴ Then David and the people who 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 captive: 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’s son, “I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod.” And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

⁸ And David inquired of 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 who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.

¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred remained behind, who 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 ate; 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 from 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 ago I fell sick.

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

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 who 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 from 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’s spoil.”

²¹ And David came to the two hundred men who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to remain at the Brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David and to meet the people who 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 who went with David, and said, “Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught 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 who goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be who tarrieth by the supplies: they shall divide 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 a portion 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 who were in Bethel, and to those who were in South Ramoth, and to those who were in Jattir;

²⁸ and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa,

²⁹ and to those who were in Rachal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites;

³⁰ and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Chorashan, and to those who were in Athach;

³¹ and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.