1 Samuel 29-30New King James Version (NKJV)
The Philistines Reject David
29 Then the Philistines gathered together all
their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in
Jezreel. 2 And the lords of the Philistines passed
in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review
at the rear with Achish. 3 Then the princes of the
Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”
And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this
not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days,
or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he
defected to me.”
4 But the princes of the Philistines
were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, “Make this
fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for
him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become
our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not
with the heads of these men? 5 Is this
not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying:
6 Then Achish called David and said
to him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been
upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good
in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your
coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. 7 Therefore
return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the
Philistines.”
8 So David said to Achish, “But what
have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I
have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord
the king?”
9 Then Achish answered and said to David,
“I know that you are as good in my sight as an angel of God;
nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with
us to the battle.’ 10 Now therefore, rise early in
the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you.[b] And as soon as you are
up early in the morning and have light, depart.”
11 So David and his men rose early to
depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. And the
Philistines went up to Jezreel.
David’s Conflict with the Amalekites
30 Now it happened, when David and his men came
to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag,
attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and had
taken captive the women and those who were there, from small
to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and
went their way. 3 So David and his men came to the
city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and
their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then
David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices
and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And
David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the
Carmelite, had been taken captive. 6 Now David was
greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of
all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David
strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 Then David said to Abiathar the
priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar
brought the ephod to David. 8 So David inquired of
the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”
And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely
overtake them and without fail recover all.”
9 So David went, he and the six
hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor,
where those stayed who were left behind. 10 But
David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who
were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.
11 Then they found an Egyptian in the
field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they
let him drink water. 12 And they gave him a piece
of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his
strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three
days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him,
“To whom do you belong, and where are you
from?”
And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt,
servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I
fell sick. 14 We made an invasion of the
southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to
Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag
with fire.”
15 And David said to him, “Can you
take me down to this troop?”
So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill
me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this
troop.”
16 And when he had brought him down,
there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing,
because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the
Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 Then
David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man
of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and
fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites
had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And
nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil
or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. 20 Then
David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock,
and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21 Now David came to the two hundred
men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had
made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the
people who were with him. And when David came near the people,
he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and
worthless men[c] of those who went with
David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give
them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every
man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and
depart.”
23 But David said, “My brethren, you
shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us
and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. 24 For
who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes
down to the battle, so shall his part be who
stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” 25 So
it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel
to this day.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he
sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends,
saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of
the Lord”— 27 to those who were in
Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the
South, those who were in Jattir, 28 those who were in
Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in
Eshtemoa, 29 those who were in
Rachal, those who were in the cities of the
Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities
of the Kenites, 30 those who were in
Hormah, those who were in Chorashan,[d] those who were in
Athach, 31 those who were in
Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed
to rove.
