¶ And it came to pass, when David and his men were come¹ to Ziklag on the third² day, that the Amalekites³ had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not⁴ any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned⁵ with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

Then David and the people that were with him lifted up⁶ their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

And David's two wives⁷ were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David was greatly⁸ distressed; for the people⁹ spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved¹⁰, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David¹¹ encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

¶ And David said to Abiathar¹² the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

And David enquired¹³ at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him,¹⁴ Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.

¶ But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred¹⁵ abode behind, which were so faint¹⁶ that they could not go over the brook Besor¹⁷.

And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him¹⁸ bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;

And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit¹⁹ came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days²⁰ and three nights.

And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master²¹ left me, because three days agone I fell sick.

We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites²², and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb²³; and we burned²⁴ Ziklag with fire.

And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear²⁵ unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver²⁶ me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

And when he²⁷ had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating²⁸ and drinking, and dancing, because of all²⁹ the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day³⁰: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.

³¹And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

¶ And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil³².

¶ And David came to the two hundred men³³, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near³⁴ to the people, he saluted them³⁵.

Then answered all the wicked³⁶ men and men of Belial, of those³⁷ 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 his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.

Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren³⁸, with that which the LORD³⁹ hath given us, who hath⁴⁰ preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.

For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part⁴¹ is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth⁴² by the stuff: they shall part alike.

And it was so from that day forward⁴³, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends⁴⁴, saying, Behold a present⁴⁵ for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;

To them which were in Bethel⁴⁶, and to them which were in south Ramoth⁴⁷, and to them which were in Jattir,

And to them which were in Aroer⁴⁹, and to them which were in Siphmoth⁵⁰, and to them which were in Eshtemoa⁵¹,

And to them which were in Rachal⁵³, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites⁵⁴, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites⁵⁵,

¶ And to them which were in Hormah⁵⁶, and to them which were in Chorashan⁵⁷, and to them which were in Athach,

And to them which were in Hebron⁵⁸, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.