Old/New Testament
David’s Conflict with the Amalekites
30 Now it happened, when David and his men came to (A)Ziklag, on the third day, that the (B)Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the (C)women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two (D)wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for (E)the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was [a]grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. (F)But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 (G)Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And (H)Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 (I)So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”
And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall 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 stayed who were left behind. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; (J)for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.
11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. 12 And they gave him a piece of (K)a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So (L)when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?”
And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. 14 We made an invasion of the southern area of (M)the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area (N)of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
15 And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?”
So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my (O)master, and I will take you down to this troop.”
16 And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, (P)eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; (Q)David recovered all. 20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21 Now David came to the (R)two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he [b]greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and (S)worthless[c] men of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.”
23 But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. 24 For who will heed you in this matter? But (T)as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” 25 So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the [d]spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord”— 27 to those who were in Bethel, those who were in (U)Ramoth of the South, those who were in (V)Jattir, 28 those who were in (W)Aroer, those who were in (X)Siphmoth, those who were in (Y)Eshtemoa, 29 those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of (Z)the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the (AA)Kenites, 30 those who were in (AB)Hormah, those who were in [e]Chorashan, those who were in Athach, 31 those who were in (AC)Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to (AD)rove.
The Tragic End of Saul and His Sons(AE)
31 Now (AF)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount (AG)Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed (AH)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 (AI)The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers [f]hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.
4 (AJ)Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest (AK)these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and [g]abuse me.”
But his armorbearer would not, (AL)for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and (AM)fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.
7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. 8 So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to (AN)proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10 (AO)Then they put his armor in the temple of the (AP)Ashtoreths, and (AQ)they fastened his body to the wall of (AR)Beth[h] Shan.
11 (AS)Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 (AT)all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and (AU)burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and (AV)buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, (AW)and fasted seven days.
23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there (A)few who are saved?”
And He said to them, 24 (B)“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for (C)many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 (D)When once the Master of the house has risen up and (E)shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, (F)‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, (G)‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 (H)But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. (I)Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 (J)There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, (K)when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 (L)And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
31 [a]On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”
32 And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day (M)I shall be [b]perfected.’ 33 Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem(N)
34 (O)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! (P)Your house is left to you desolate; and [c]assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, (Q)‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.