David defeats the Amalekite people
1David and his men came to the town of Ziklag on the 3rd day. While they were away, the Amalekites had attacked the people in the Negev and Ziklag and they had taken everything they could find. They had attacked Ziklag and burnt the town. 2They had not killed the women and children in the town, but they had taken them away. 3When David and his men came to the town, it was burnt down. Their wives and their sons and daughters were gone. 4David and the men with him cried loudly. They kept on crying until they could cry no more. 5David's 2 wives were also gone. Their names were Ahinoam from the town of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6David was very worried because the men wanted to throw stones at him and kill him. They were very angry and sad about their children. But David was strong because the Lord his God was with him. 7David said to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelek: ‘Bring the shoulder-cloth to me.’ Abiathar gave the shoulder-cloth to David 8and David asked the Lord: ‘These people have taken our wives and our children and everything we have. Must I follow_and_chase them? Will I be able to catch them?’ The Lord said to him: ‘Yes. You must follow_and_chase them because you will catch them and you will save your people, this is sure.’
9David and his 600 men went and they came to the Besor River. Some of the men stayed there. 10David and 400 men followed the Amalekites and 200 men were too tired to go over the river and they stayed there. 11David's men found an Egyptian in the field and they took him to David. They gave him food and water 12and dried figs and 2 cakes of raisins. He ate and then he felt better because he had not had anything to eat or drink for 3 days. 13David asked him: ‘Whom do you work for? Where do you come from?’
He said: ‘I come from Egypt. I am the slave of an Amalekite man. My master left me on his way because I was sick. That was 3 days ago. 14We attacked the people in the Negev in the land of the Philistines. We took their things and also the people in some of the towns of Judah and in the Negev where the Caleb families live. We burnt Ziklag.’
15David said to the man: ‘Will you take me to these Amalekite people?’ The man said: ‘You must first promise that you will not kill me or give me back to my master, and God must be the Witness. Then I will take you to the Amalekites.’
16The man took them to the Amalekites. They were all over the place. They were having a feast and eating and drinking from all the plunder that they had taken in the land of the Philistines and in the land_of_Judah. 17David attacked them from early morning until the evening of the next day. Only 400 of their young men were not killed. They climbed on camels and fled. 18David got everything back that the Amalekites had taken, as well as his 2 wives. 19Nothing was missing. David brought everything back, children and older people, boys and girls, and all the things that the Amalekites had taken. 20He took the sheep and goats and cattle and he chased them first, before the other animals. His men said: ‘These animals belong to David.’
21David then came to the 200 men who had been too tired to go with them and who had stayed at the Besor River. The 200 men came to meet David and David asked them how they were. 22A few of the men who had gone with David were bad and they wanted to make trouble. They said: ‘These men did not go with us to fight. We will not give them any of the plunder that we took. Each man can take only his wife and children and then he must go.’
23But David said: ‘Friends, you must not do this with the plunder that God gave us. He has protected us and made us defeat the Amalekites who came to fight against us. 24No one must listen to what you say. The men who went to fight and the men who stayed to look after the things must get the same.’ 25On that day David said the Israelites must always do that and they still do it.
26When David came back to the town of Ziklag, he sent some of the things to his friends, the leaders_of_Judah, and he said to them: ‘Here is a gift for you. It is some of the plunder we took from the enemies of the Lord.’ 27David sent these gifts to the people in Bethel, Ramoth-Negev, Jattir, 28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa and 29Rakal, the towns of the Jerahmeel families and the Kenites, 30Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athak 31and Hebron and to those in all the other places where David and his men had stayed before.
