1 Samuel 30 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
On the third day, when David and his men arrived at the had raided the and They had attacked burned it down,
and had taken captive the women and everyone in it, from the youngest to the oldest. They hadn't killed anyone but had carried them off as they went on their way.
When David and his men came to the city and found it burned to the ground, and their wives, sons, and daughters taken captive,
David and the men with him wept out loud until they had no strength left to weep.
David's two wives had been taken captive — from Jezreel and the widow of Nabal from Carmel.
David was in a desperate situation because the men were talking about him. Every man was bitter over losing his sons and daughters. But David in his God.
David said to the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Bring me the So brought the to David.
David "Should I chase after this raiding party? Will I catch them?" told him, "Chase them. You will definitely catch them and everyone."
So David set out with his six hundred men. They came to the where some of them stayed behind.
David kept chasing with four hundred men, while two hundred stayed behind because they were too exhausted to cross the Besor Ravine.
They found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him food to eat and water to drink.
They gave him a slice of and two clusters of raisins. After he ate, his strength came back, because he hadn't eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.
David asked him, "Who do you belong to? Where are you from?" He said, "I'm an Egyptian young man, a slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I got sick.
We raided the of the the territory belonging to Judah, and the of And we burned Ziklag down."
David asked him, "Can you lead me down to this raiding party?" He said, "Swear to me by God that you won't kill me and won't hand me over to my master, and I'll lead you down to them."
He led them down, and there they were — spread out all over the ground, eating, drinking, and because of the massive plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a single one of them escaped except four hundred young men who mounted camels and fled.
David everything the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.
Nothing was missing—not a thing, small or great, sons or daughters, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought it all back.
David also captured all the flocks and herds. They drove those animals ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder."
David came back to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him, the ones he had left at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the men with him. When David approached, he them
But all the troublemakers and among those who had gone with David spoke up and said, "Since they didn't go with us, we won't give them any of the plunder we recovered. Each man can just take his wife and children and go."
But David said, "No, my brothers. You can't do this with what Yahweh has given us. He protected us and handed the raiding party that attacked us right over to us.
Who would even listen to you on this? The share for the one who went into battle will be the same as the share for the one who stayed with the supplies. They'll divide it equally."
From that day forward, David made this a and custom for Israel, and it still stands today.
When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Here — a gift for you from the plunder of
He sent it to those in Bethel, those in Ramoth of the Negev, those in Jattir,
those in Aroer, those in Siphmoth, those in Eshtemoa,
those in Racal, those in the towns of the those in the towns of the
those in Hormah, those in Bor-ashan, those in Athach,
and those in — everywhere David and his men had roamed.