David’s Defeat of the Amalekites

30 David and his men^(A) arrived in Ziklag^(B) on the third day. The Amalekites^(C) had raided the Negev and attacked and burned Ziklag. ² They also had kidnapped the women and everyone^[a] in it from youngest to oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off^(D) as they went on their way.

³ When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped. ⁴ David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep. ⁵ David’s two wives,^(E) Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped. ⁶ David was in an extremely difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him,^(F) for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.^(G)

⁷ David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.”^(H) So Abiathar brought it to him, ⁸ and David asked the Lord,^(I) “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” ^(J)

The Lord replied to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.”^(K)

⁹ So David and the six hundred men with him^(L) went. They came to the Wadi Besor, where some stayed behind.^{(M) 10} David and four hundred of the men continued the pursuit, while two hundred stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor.

¹¹ David’s men found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink. ¹² Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate he revived,^(N) for he hadn’t eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³ Then David said to him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from?”

“I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man,” he said. “My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago. ¹⁴ We raided the south country of the Cherethites,^(O) the territory of Judah, and the south country of Caleb,^(P) and we burned Ziklag.”^(Q)

¹⁵ David then asked him, “Will you lead me to these raiders?”

He said, “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁶ So he led him, and there were the Amalekites, spread out over the entire area, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder^(R) they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah. ¹⁷ David slaughtered them from twilight until the evening of the next day.^(S) None of them escaped, except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled.^(T)

¹⁸ David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ Nothing of theirs was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters, and all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back.^{(U) 20} He took all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, “This is David’s plunder!” ^(V)