1 ARST Three days later, when David and his men arrived at Ziklag, they discovered that men of the Amalek people group had raided Ziklag and some towns in the southern Judean wilderness. They had destroyed Ziklag and burned down all the buildings. BSB BSB: On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.
2 ARST They had captured the women and the children and everyone else, and had taken them away. But they had not killed anyone. BSB BSB: They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.
3 ARST When David and his men came to Ziklag, they saw that the town had been burned, and that their wives and sons and daughters had been captured and taken away. BSB BSB: When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
4 ARST David and his men cried loudly, until they were so weak that they could not cry anymore. BSB BSB: So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.
5 ARST David’ s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had also been taken away. BSB BSB: David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.
6 ARST David’ s men were threatening to kill him by throwing stones at him, because they were very angry because their sons and daughters had been taken away. David was very distressed, but Yahweh his God gave him strength. BSB BSB: And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
7 ARST Then David did not know what to do, so he said to Abiathar the priest,“Bring to me the sacred apron and the sacred vest.” So Abiathar brought them, BSB BSB: Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,
8 ARST and David asked Yahweh,“Should I and my men pursue the men who took our families? Will we be able to catch up to them?” Yahweh answered by means of the stones in the sacred vest:“Yes, pursue them. You will catch up to them, and you will be able to rescue your families.” BSB BSB: and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”
9 ARST So David and the six hundred men who were with him left, and they came to the ravine of Besor. Some of his men stayed there with some of their supplies. BSB BSB: So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind
10 ARST David and four hundred men continued to pursue the men who captured their families. The other two hundred men stayed there at the ravine, because they were so exhausted that they could not cross the ravine. BSB BSB: because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.
11 ARST As David and the four hundred men were going, they saw a man from Egypt in a field; so they took him to David. They gave the man some water to drink and some food to eat. BSB BSB: Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat—
12 ARST They also gave him a piece of fig cake and two packs of raisins. The man had not had anything to eat or drink for three days and nights, but after he ate and drank he felt refreshed. BSB BSB: a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.
13 ARST David asked him,“Who is your master? And where do you come from?” He replied,“I am from Egypt. I am a slave of a man from the Amalek people group. Three days ago my master left me here, because I was sick and I was not able to go with them. BSB BSB: Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.
14 ARST We had raided the southern Judean wilderness of the Kerethites, and some other towns in Judah, and the southern Judean wilderness of the Calebites. We also burned Ziklag.” BSB BSB: We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”
15 ARST David asked him,“Can you lead us to this group of raiders?” He replied,“Yes, I will do that if you ask God to listen while you promise that you will not kill me or give me back to my master. If you promise that, I will take you to them.” BSB BSB: “Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”
16 ARST David agreed to do that, so the man from Egypt led David and his men to where the men from the Amalek people group were. Those men were lying on the ground, eating and drinking and celebrating because they had captured many things from the regions of Philistia and Judah. BSB BSB: So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
17 ARST David and his men fought against them from sunset that day until the evening of the following day. Four hundred of them escaped and rode away on camels, but none of the others escaped. BSB BSB: And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.
18 ARST David rescued his two wives, and he and his men got back everything else that the men of the Amalek people group had taken. BSB BSB: So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
19 ARST Nothing was missing. They took all their people back to Ziklag— young people and old people, their wives, their sons and their daughters. They also recovered all the other things that the men of the Amalek people group had taken from Ziklag. BSB BSB: Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.
20 ARST They took with them the sheep and cattle that had been captured, and his men caused these animals to go in front of the rest of the cattle; they said,“These are animals that we captured in the battle; they belong to David!” BSB BSB: And he took all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”
21 ARST David and his men got back to where the other two hundred men were waiting, the men who did not go with David because they were very exhausted. They had stayed at the ravine of Besor. When they saw David and his men coming, they went out to greet them. And David greeted them also. BSB BSB: When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,
22 ARST But some of the men who had gone with David, men who were evil and troublemakers, said,“These two hundred men did not go with us. So we should not give to them any of the things that we recovered. Each of them should take only his wife and children and go back to their homes.” BSB BSB: but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”
23 ARST David replied,“No, my fellow Israelites, that would not be right. Yahweh has protected us and enabled us to defeat the enemies who attacked our town. BSB BSB: But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.
24 ARST Who will pay attention to you if you say things like that? The men who stayed here with our supplies will get the same amount that the men who went into the battle will get. They will all receive the same amount.” BSB BSB: Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”
25 ARST David made that to be a law for the Israelite people, and that is still a law in Israel. BSB BSB: And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute and ordinance for Israel to this very day.
26 ARST When David and all the others arrived in Ziklag, David sent to his friends who were leaders in Judah some of the things that they had captured from the Amalek people group. He said to them,“Here is a present for you. These are things that we took from Yahweh’ s enemies.” BSB BSB: When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”
27 ARST Here is a list of the cities and towns to whose leaders David sent gifts: Bethel, Ramoth in the southern part of Judah, Jattir, BSB BSB: He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;
28 ARST Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa. BSB BSB: to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa;
29 ARST Also Rakal, the cities where the descendants of Jehrameel and the cities where the Kenite people group live, BSB BSB: to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;
30 ARST Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athak, BSB BSB: to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;
31 ARST Hebron, and all the other places where David and his men had often gone. BSB BSB: and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.