1 Samuel 30
English Standard Version
David's Wives Are Captured
30 Now when David and his men came to (A)Ziklag on the third day, (B)the Amalekites had (C)made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all[a] who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David's (D)two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke (E)of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul,[b] each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 (F)And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 (G)And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this (H)band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake (I)and shall surely rescue.” 9 So David set out, and (J)the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. (K)Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, (L)his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 (M)We had made a raid against the Negeb of (N)the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this (O)band.”
David Defeats the Amalekites
16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18 (P)David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. (Q)David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him,[c] and said, “This is David's spoil.”
21 Then David came to (R)the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left (S)at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24 Who would listen to you in this matter? (T)For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” 25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.” 27 It was for those in (U)Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in (V)Jattir, 28 in (W)Aroer, in Siphmoth, in (X)Eshtemoa, 29 in Racal, in the cities of (Y)the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of (Z)the Kenites, 30 in (AA)Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31 in (AB)Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 30:2 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and all
- 1 Samuel 30:6 Compare 22:2
- 1 Samuel 30:20 The meaning of the Hebrew clause is uncertain
1 Samuel 30
Common English Bible
The Amalekite raid on Ziklag
30 Three days later, David and his soldiers reached Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided the arid southern plain and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down, 2 taking the women and everyone in the city prisoner, whether young or old.[a] They hadn’t killed anyone but carried them off and went on their way. 3 When David and his soldiers got to the town and found it burned down, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters taken prisoner, 4 David and the troops with him broke into tears and cried until they could cry no more. 5 David’s two wives had been captured as well: Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal’s widow from Carmel.
6 David was in deep trouble because the troops were talking about stoning him. Each of the soldiers was deeply distressed about their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. 7 David said to the priest Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, “Bring the priestly vest[b] to me.” So Abiathar brought it to David.
8 Then David asked the Lord, “Should I go after this raiding party? Will I catch them?”
“Yes, go after them!” God answered. “You will definitely catch them and will succeed in the rescue!”
9 So David set off with six hundred men. They came to the Besor ravine, where some stayed behind. 10 David and four hundred men continued the pursuit, while two hundred men stayed there, too exhausted to cross the Besor ravine.
11 They found an Egyptian in the countryside and brought him to David. They gave him bread, and he ate, and they gave him water to drink. 12 They also gave him a piece of fig cake and two raisin cakes. He ate and regained his strength because he hadn’t eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and nights.
13 Then David asked him, “Whose slave are you? Where do you come from?”
“I’m an Egyptian servant boy,” he said, “and the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago. 14 We had raided the arid southern plain belonging to the Cherethites, the territory belonging to Judah, and the southern plain of Caleb. We also burned Ziklag down.”
15 “Can you guide me to this raiding party?” David asked him.
“Make a pledge to me by God that you won’t kill me or hand me over to my master,” the boy said, “and I will guide you to the raiding party.”
16 So the boy led David to them, and he found them scattered all over the countryside, eating, drinking, and celebrating over the large amount of plunder they had taken from Philistine and Judean territory.
17 David attacked them from twilight until evening of the next day. He killed them all.[c] No one escaped except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled. 18 David rescued everything that the Amalekites had taken, including his own two wives. 19 Nothing was missing from the plunder or anything that they had taken, neither old nor young, son nor daughter. David brought everything back. 20 David also captured all the sheep and cattle, which were driven in front of the other livestock. The troops said, “This is David’s plunder!”
21 David reached the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow him and had stayed behind at the Besor ravine. They came out to greet him and the troops who were with him. When David approached them, he asked how they were doing. 22 But then all the evil and despicable individuals who had accompanied David said, “We won’t share any of the plunder we rescued with them because they didn’t go with us. Each of them can take his wife and children and go—but that’s it.”
23 “Brothers!” David said. “Don’t act that way with the things the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the raiding party that had attacked us. 24 How could anyone agree with you on this plan? The share of those who went into battle and the share of those who stayed with the supplies will be divided equally.” 25 So from that day forward, David made that a regulation and a law in Israel, which remains in place even now.
26 When David returned to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah and to his friends. “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord’s enemies,” he said. 27 It went to those in Bethel, Ramoth of the arid southern plain, Jattir, 28 Aroer,[d] Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29 Racal, the towns of the Jerahmeelites, the towns of the Kenites, 30 Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach, 31 Hebron, and all the places where David and his soldiers had spent time.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 30:2 LXX; MT lacks and everyone in the city.
- 1 Samuel 30:7 Heb ephod
- 1 Samuel 30:17 LXX; MT lacks He killed them all.
- 1 Samuel 30:28 LXX Ararah
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