|
Chapter 30 |
| 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 Rachal, 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 Chorashan, 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. |
