1And it came to pass , when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day , that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South , and upon Ziklag , and had smitten Ziklag , and burned it with fire, 2and had taken captive the women and all that were therein, both small and great : they slew not any , but carried them off , and went their way . 3And when David and his men came to the city , behold , it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons , and their daughters , were taken captive . 4Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept , until they had no more power to weep . 5And David ’s two wives were taken captive , Ahinoam the Jezreelitess , and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite . 6And 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 strengthened himself in Jehovah his God .
David Seeks the Lord
7And David said to Abiathar the priest , the son of Ahimelech, I pray thee , bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David . 8And David inquired of Jehovah , saying, If I pursue after this troop , shall I overtake them ? And he answered him , Pursue ; for thou shalt surely overtake them , and shalt without fail recover all .
The Pursuit of the Amalekites
9So 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 . 10But David pursued , he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind , who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor . 11And they found an Egyptian in the field , and brought him to David , and gave him bread , and he did eat ; and they gave him water to drink ; 12and 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 . 13And 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 ago I fell sick . 14We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites , and upon that which belongeth to Judah , and upon the South of Caleb ; and we burned Ziklag with fire. 15And David said to him , Wilt thou bring me down to this troop ? And he said, Swear unto me by God , that thou wilt neither kill me , nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop .
The Victory and Recovery
16And when he had brought him down , behold , they were spread abroad over all the ground , 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 . 17And 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 . 18And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken ; and David rescued his two wives. 19And there was nothing lacking to them , neither small nor great , neither sons nor daughters , neither spoil , nor anything that they had taken to them : David brought back all . 20And David took all the flocks and the herds , which they drove before those other cattle , and said, This is David ’s spoil . 21And David came to the two hundred men , who were so faint that they could not follow David , whom also they had made 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 . 22Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows , of those that 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 he may lead them away , and depart . 23Then said David , Ye shall not do so , my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given unto us , who hath preserved us , and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand . 24And who will hearken unto you in this matter ? for as his share is that goeth down to the battle , so shall his share be that tarrieth by the baggage : they shall share alike . 25And it was so from that day forward , that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day . 26And 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 Jehovah : 27to them that were in Beth-el , and to them that were in Ramoth of the South, and to them that were in Jattir , 28and to them that were in Aroer , and to them that were in Siphmoth , and to them that were in Eshtemoa, 29and to them that were in Racal , and to them that were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites , and to them that were in the cities of the Kenites , 30and to them that were in Hormah , and to them that were in Bor-ashan, and to them that were in Athach , 31and to them that were in Hebron , and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt .