The Amalekites spoil Ziklag.

1 ¶ And it came to pass,² when Davidº and his men¹² were comeºª to Ziklagº on the thirdº day,º that the Amalekitesº had invadedºª² the south,º and Ziklag,º and smittenºª² Ziklag,º and burnedºª it with fire;º 2 And had taken the women¹ captives,ºª²² that² [were] therein: they slewºª not² any,º either² greatº or small,º² but carried [them] away,ºª and went¹ª² on their way.º

3 ¶ So Davidº and his men¹² cameºª to² the city,º and, behold,² [it was] burnedºª with fire;º and their wives,º and their sons,º and their daughters,º were taken captives.ºª

David asking counsel is encouraged by God to pursue them.

4 Then Davidº and the peopleº that² [were] with² him lifted upºª² their voiceº and wept,ºª until²² they had no more² powerº to weep.ºª 5 And David'sº twoº wivesº were taken captives,ºª Ahinoamº the Jezreelitess,º and Abigailº the wifeº of Nabalº the Carmelite.º 6 And Davidº was greatlyº distressed;ºª for² the peopleº spakeºª of stoningºª him, because² the soulº of all² the peopleº was grieved,ºª every manº for² his sonsº and for² his daughters:º but Davidº encouraged¹ª himself² in the LORDº his God.º 7 And Davidº saidºª to² Abiatharº the priest,º Ahimelech'sº son,º I pray thee,² bring me hitherºª the ephod.º And Abiatharº broughtºª thither² the ephodº to² David.º 8 And Davidº enquiredºª at the LORD,º saying,ºª Shall I pursueºª afterº this² troop?º shall I overtakeºª them? And he answeredºª him, Pursue:ºª for² thou shalt surely¹ª overtakeºª [them], and without fail¹ª recoverºª [all]. 9 So Davidº went,¹ª² he² and the sixº hundredº menº that² [were] with² him, and cameºª to² the brookº Besor,º where those that were left behindºª stayed.ºª 10 But Davidº pursued,ºª he² and fourº hundredº men:º for two hundredº² abode behind,ºª which² were so faintºª that they could not go overºª²² the brookº Besor.º

By the means of a revived Egyptian he is brought to the enemies, and recovereth all the spoil.

11 ¶ And they foundºª an Egyptianºº in the field,º and broughtºª him to² David,º and gaveºª him bread,º and he did eat;ºª and they made him drinkºª water;º 12 And they gaveºª him a pieceº of a cake¹ of figs,² and twoº clusters of raisins:º and when he had eaten,ºª his spiritº came againºª to² him: for² he had eatenºª no² bread,º nor² drunkºª [any] water,º threeº daysº and threeº nights.º 13 And Davidº saidºª unto him, To whom² [belongest] thou?² and whence²²² [art] thou?² And he said,ºª I² [am] a young manº of Egypt,º servantº to an Amalekite;ºº and my masterº leftºª me, because² threeº daysº agone I fell sick.ºª 14 We² made an invasionºª [upon] the southº of the Cherethites,º and upon² [the coast] which² [belongeth] to Judah,º and upon² the southº of Caleb;º and we burnedºª Ziklagº with fire.º 15 And Davidº saidºª to² him, Canst thou bring me downºª to² this² company?º And he said,ºª Swearºª unto me by God,º that thou wilt neither² killºª me, norº deliverºª me into the handsº of my master,º and I will bring thee downºª to² this² company.º

16 ¶ And when he had brought him down,ºª behold,² [they were] spread abroadºª upon²² all¹² the earth,º eatingºª and drinking,ºª and dancing,ºª because of all² the greatº spoilº that² they had takenºª out of the landº² of the Philistines,º and out of the landº² of Judah.º 17 And Davidº smoteºª them from the twilightº² even unto² the eveningº of the next day:º and there escapedºª not² a manº of them, save²² fourº hundredº youngº men,º which² rodeºª upon² camels,º and fled.ºª 18 And Davidº recoveredºª² all² that² the Amalekitesº had carried away:ºª and Davidº rescuedºª his twoº wives.º 19 And there was nothing² lackingºª to them, neitherº smallº nor² great,º neither² sonsº nor daughters,º neither spoil,º² nor² any² [thing] that² they had takenºª to them: Davidº recoveredºª all.² 20 And Davidº tookºª² all² the flocksº and the herds,º [which] they draveºª beforeº thoseº [other] cattle,º and said,ºª This² [is] David'sº spoil.º

21 ¶ And Davidº cameºª to² the two hundredº men,¹² which² were so faintºª that they could not followº¹ª² David,º whom they had made also to abideºª at the brookº Besor:º and they went forthºª to meetºª David,º and to meetºª the peopleº that² [were] with² him: and when Davidº came nearºª to² the people,º he salutedººª them.

David's law to divide the spoil equally between them that fight and them that keep the stuff.

22 Then answeredºª all² the wickedº menº and [men] of Belial,º of those¹²² that² wentºª with² David,º and said,ºª Because²² they wentºª not² with² us, we will not² giveºª them [ought] of the spoilº² that² we have recovered,ºª save²² to every manº² his wifeº and his children,º that they may lead [them] away,ºª and depart.¹ª² 23 Then saidºª David,º Ye shall not² do² so,¹ª² my brethren,º with² that which² the LORDº hath givenºª us, who hath preservedºª us, and deliveredºª² the companyº that cameºª against² us into our hand.º 24 For who² will hearkenºª unto you in this² matter?º but² as his partº [is] that goeth downºªªª to the battle,º so [shall] his partº [be] that tarriethºª by² the stuff:º they shall partºª alike.º 25 And it was² [so] from that dayº²² forward,º that he madeºª it a statuteº and an ordinanceº for Israelº unto² this² day.º

He sendeth presents to his friends.

26 ¶ And when Davidº cameºª to² Ziklag,º he sentºª of the spoilº² unto the eldersº of Judah,º [even] to his friends,º saying,ºª Behold² a presentº for you of the spoilº² of the enemiesºª of the LORD;º 27 To [them]¹ which² [were] in Bethel,º and to [them] which² [were] in southº Ramoth,º and to [them] which² [were] in Jattir,º 28 And to [them] which² [were] in Aroer,º and to [them] which² [were] in Siphmoth,º and to [them] which² [were] in Eshtemoa,º 29 And to [them] which² [were] in Rachal,º and to [them] which² [were] in the citiesº of the Jerahmeelites,º and to [them] which² [were] in the citiesº of the Kenites,º 30 And to [them] which² [were] in Hormah,º and to [them] which² [were] in Chorashan,º and to [them] which² [were] in Athach,º 31 And to [them] which² [were] in Hebron,º and to all² the placesº where²² Davidº himself² and his men¹² were wont to haunt.ºª