1And 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 ; 2And 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 . 3So 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 . 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 captives , 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 encouraged himself in the LORD his God .
David Seeks the Lord
7And 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 . 8And David enquired 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 .
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 abode behind , which 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 made him drink water ; 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 agone I fell sick . 14We 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 . 15And 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 .
The Victory and Recovery
16And 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 . 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 , which rode upon camels , and fled . 18And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away : and David rescued his two wives . 19And 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. 20And David took all the flocks and the herds , which they drave before those other cattle , and said , This is David’s spoil . 21And 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. 22Then 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 . 23Then 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 . 24For 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 . 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 the LORD ; 27To them were in Beth-el , and to them which were in south Ramoth , and to them which were in Jattir , 28And to them which were in Aroer , and to them which were in Siphmoth , and to them which were in Eshtemoa , 29And 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 , 30And to them which were in Hormah , and to them which were in Chor-ashan , and to them which were in Athach , 31And to them which were in Hebron , and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt .