David Recovers What Was Lost

¹On the 3rd day, when David and his men arrived back at Ziklag, they discovered that the Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked Ziklag, burning it to the ground. ²They had taken everyone captive — all the women and everyone else in the town, young and old. They didn't kill anyone, but carried them all off as they left. ³When David and his men reached the town, they found it burned down and their wives, sons, and daughters taken captive. ⁴David and everyone with him broke down and wept until they had no strength left to cry. ⁵David's own 2 wives had been taken — Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. ⁶David was greatly distressed because the people talked about stoning him, as the soul of all the people was grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. ⁷David said to the priest Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, "Please bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸David asked the LORD, "Should I go after this raiding party? Will I catch them?" The LORD answered him, "Go after them. You will certainly catch them and recover everything." ⁹So David went with his 600 men and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. ¹⁰David kept going with 400 men, but 200 were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor, so they stayed there. ¹¹Out in the open field, they found an Egyptian man. They brought him to David and gave him bread to eat and water to drink. ¹²They gave him a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. After he ate, his spirit returned to him, because he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for three days and three nights. ¹³David asked him, "Who do you belong to? Where are you from?" The man said, "I'm an Egyptian, a slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me 3 days ago when I got sick. ¹⁴We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory belonging to Judah, and the Negev of Caleb. We also burned Ziklag to the ground." ¹⁵David asked him, "Can you lead me to this raiding party?" He replied, "Swear to me by God that you won't kill me or hand me back to my master, and I'll take you right to them." ¹⁶He led them down, and there were the Amalekites — scattered across the countryside, eating, drinking, and celebrating over the massive plunder they had taken from Philistine and Judean territory. ¹⁷David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not one of them escaped except 400 young men who rode on camels and fled. ¹⁸David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his 2 wives. ¹⁹Nothing was missing — not a single person, young or old, not a son or daughter, and none of the plunder or anything else that had been taken. David brought back every bit of it. ²⁰David also seized all the Amalekites' flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder." ²¹When David returned to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to follow and had stayed behind at the brook Besor, they came out to meet David and his men. As David approached, he greeted them warmly. ²²But some troublemakers and worthless men among those who had fought with David spoke up and said, "Since these men didn't come with us, we won't share any of the plunder with them. Let each man just take his wife and children and go." ²³But David said, "No, my brothers — you can't do that with what the LORD has given us. He protected us and handed over the raiding party that attacked us. ²⁴Nobody is going to agree with you on this. The men who went into battle and the men who stayed with the supplies will share equally. Everyone gets the same portion." ²⁵From that day on, David made this an official rule and law for Israel, and it has remained so ever since. ²⁶When David got back to Ziklag, he sent portions of the plunder to the elders of Judah — his friends — with a message: "Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD's enemies." ²⁷He sent gifts to those in Bethel, those in Ramoth of the Negev, and those in Jattir, ²⁸to those in Aroer, those in Siphmoth, and those in Eshtemoa, ²⁹to those in Rachal, those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and those in the towns of the Kenites, ³⁰to those in Hormah, those in Chorashan, and those in Athach, ³¹and to those in Hebron — and to every other place where David and his men had spent time.