1 Samuel 30

¹ And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag onAfter that he departed from Achish.the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, andThat is, destroyed their city.smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

² And had taken the women that were therein, prisoners, both small and great, and slewe not a man, but caryed them away, & went their wayes.

³ So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, [it was] burned with fire; and theirFor those only remained in the city, when the men were gone to war.wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

⁴ Then Dauid and the people that was with him, lift vp their voyces and wept, vntill they could weepe no more.

⁵ Dauids two wiues were taken prisoners also, Ahinoam the Izreelite, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the peopleThus we see that in trouble and adversity we do not consider God's providence, but like raging beasts forget both our own duty and contemn God's appointment over us.spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

⁷ And Dauid saide to Abiathar the Priest Ahimelechs sonne, I pray thee, bring me the Ephod; Abiathar brought the Ephod to Dauid.

⁸ And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake [them], and without failThough God seem to leave us for a time, yet if we trust in him, we will be sure to find comfort.recover [all].

⁹ So Dauid and the sixe hundreth men that were with him, went, and came to the riuer Besor, where a part of them abode:

¹⁰ But Dauid and foure hundreth men followed (for two hundreth abode behinde, being too wearie to goe ouer the riuer Besor)

¹¹ And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave himGod by his providence both provides for the needs of the poor stranger, and made him a guide to David to accomplish his enterprise.bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;

¹² Also they gaue him a fewe figges, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirite came againe to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunke any water in three dayes, and three nightes.

¹³ And Dauid saide vnto him, To whome belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he saide, I am a yong man of Egypt, and seruant to an Amalekite: and my master left me three dayes agoe, because I fell sicke.

¹⁴ We roued vpon the South of Chereth, & vpon the coast belonging to Iudah, and vpon the South of Caleb, and we burnt Ziklag with fire.

¹⁵ And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said,For others were in all ages held in most reverence, even among the heathen.Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

¹⁶ And when he had brought him down, behold, [they were] spread abroad upon all the earth,The wicked in their pomp and pleasures do not consider the judgment of God, which is then at hand to smite them.eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

¹⁷ And David smote them from the twilight even unto the eveningSome read, and to the morrow of the two evenings, that is, three days.of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.

¹⁸ And Dauid recouered all that the Amalekites had taken: also Dauid rescued his two wiues.

¹⁹ And they lacked nothing, small or great, sonne or daughter, or of the spoyle of all that they had taken away: Dauid recouered them all.

²⁰ And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drave before those [other] cattle, and said, This [is] David'sWhich the Amalekites had taken from others, and David from them, besides the goods of Ziklag.spoil.

²¹ And Dauid came to the two hundreth men that were too wearie for to followe Dauid: whome they had made also to abide at the riuer Besor: and they came to meete Dauid, and to meete the people that were with him: so when Dauid came neere to the people, hee saluted them.

²² Then answered all the wicked men and [men] of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them [ought] of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man hisUnder these are understood the cattle and goods, which belonged to every man.wife and his children, that they may lead [them] away, and depart.

²³ Then saide Dauid, Yee shall not doe so, my brethren, with that which the Lorde hath giuen vs, who hath preserued vs, and deliuered the companie that came against vs, into our handes.

²⁴ For who will obey you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth downe to the battel, so shall his part be, that tarieth by the stuffe: they shal part alike.

²⁵ Some refer these words to David, that he alleged an old custom and law, as if it were written, it is both now, and ever has been.And it was [so] from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

²⁶ When Dauid therefore came to Ziklag, he sent of the pray vnto the Elders of Iudah and to his friends, saying, See there is a blessing for you of the spoyle of the enemies of the Lord.

²⁷ Hee sent to them of Beth-el, and to them of South Ramoth, and to them of Iattir,

²⁸ And to them of Aroer, and to them of Siphmoth, and to them of Eshtemoa,

²⁹ And to them of Rachal, and to them of the cities of the Ierahmeelites, and to them of the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰ And to them of Hormah, and to them of Chor-ashan, and to them of Athach,

³¹ And to [them] which [were] in Hebron, andShowing himself mindful of their benefits towards him.to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.