The Amalekites Raid Ziklag 1 ULT And it happened, when David and his men came{ to} Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekite had raided against the Negev and against Ziklag, and they had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire. 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 ULT And they had taken captive the women who{ were} in it, from small and to great. They had not caused a man to die, but they had led{ them} away and gone to their way. 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 ULT And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire! And their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 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 ULT And David and the people who{ were} with him lifted up their voices and wept until that no strength{ was} in them to weep. BSB BSB: So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.
5 ULT And the two wives of David had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess, the wife of Nabal. BSB BSB: David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.
6 ULT And it was very narrow to David, for the people said to stone him, for the soul of all of the people{ was} bitter, a man for his sons and for his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God. 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.
David Destroys the Amalekites 7 ULT And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech,“Please bring the ephod near to me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. BSB BSB: Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,
8 ULT And David inquired of Yahweh, saying,“Shall I pursue after this band? Will I overtake it?” And he said to him,“Pursue, for overtaking, you will overtake, and delivering, you will deliver.” 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 ULT So David went, he and the 600 men who{ were} with him, and they came to the wadi of Besor. And the ones left behind stayed. BSB BSB: So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind
10 ULT So David pursued, he and 400 men, but 200 men stayed who were too exhausted to pass over the wadi of Besor. BSB BSB: because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.
11 ULT And they found a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and they took him to David. And they gave bread to him, and he ate, and they had him drink water. 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 ULT And they gave to him a piece of a fig cake and two raisin clusters, and he ate, and his spirit returned to him. For he had not eaten bread and had not drunk water three days and three nights. 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 ULT And David said to him,“To whom{ are} you? And where from this{ are} you?” And he said,“I{ am} an Egyptian young man, the slave of a man of the Amalekite. But my master abandoned me the third day because I became sick. 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 ULT We raided the Negev of the Kerethite and against what{ is} to Judah and against the Negev of Caleb. And Ziklag, we burned with fire.” BSB BSB: We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”
15 ULT And David said to him,“Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said,“Swear to me by God, if you will cause me to die and if you will enclose me in the hand of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.” 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 ULT And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread out over the face of all of the land, eating and drinking and celebrating for all of the great plunder that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of 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 ULT And David struck them from twilight and until the evening of the next day of them. And a man did not escape from them except 400 men, young men who rode on camels and fled. 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 ULT And David rescued all that Amalek had taken, and David rescued the two of his wives. BSB BSB: So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
19 ULT And nothing was missing to them from small and to great and to sons and daughters and from plunder and to all that they had taken for themselves. David brought back everything. 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 ULT And David took all of the sheep and the cattle. They drove to the face of that livestock and said,“This{ is} the plunder of 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!”
The Spoils Are Divided 21 ULT And David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go behind David, and they had had them stay at the wadi of Besor. And they came out to meet David and to meet the people who{ were} with him. And David approached the people and asked them about peace. 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 ULT But all of the evil and wicked men from the men who had gone with David answered and said,“Because they did not go with us, we will not give to them from the plunder that we have rescued except a man, his wife and his sons, that they may lead away and go.” 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 ULT But David said,“You shall not do thus, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us. For he has kept us and given the band having come against us into our hand. 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 ULT Now who will listen to you regarding this matter? For as{ is} the portion of the one having gone down into battle, so{ shall be} the portion of the one having stayed with the equipment. They shall take portions together.” 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 ULT And it happened, from that day and beyond, that he set it for a statute and for an ordinance for Israel to this day. BSB BSB: And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute and ordinance for Israel to this very day.
26 ULT And David came to Ziklag, and he sent from the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying,“Behold, a blessing for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh,” 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 ULT to who{ was} in Bethel and to who{ was} in Ramoth of the South and to who{ was} in Jattir BSB BSB: He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;
28 ULT and to who{ was} in Aroer and to who{ was} in Siphmoth and to who{ was} in Eshtemoa BSB BSB: to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa;
29 ULT and to who{ was} in Racal and to who{ was} in the cities of the Jerahmeelite and to who{ was} in the cities of the Kenite BSB BSB: to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;
30 ULT and to who{ was} in Hormah and to who{ was} in Bor Ashan and to who{ was} in Athach BSB BSB: to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;
31 ULT and to who{ was} in Hebron and to all of the places where David had walked about there, he and his men. 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.