| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; | 1David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, |
| 2And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. | 2and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. |
| 3So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. | 3When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. |
| 4Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. | 4So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. |
| 5And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. | 5David's two wives had been captured--Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. |
| 6And David was greatly distressed; for the people 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. | 6David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. |
| 7And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. | 7Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, "Bring me the ephod." Abiathar brought it to him, |
| 8And David inquired 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 fail recover all. | 8and David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue." |
| 9So 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. | 9David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind. |
| 10But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. | 10Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit. |
| 11And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; | 11They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat-- |
| 12And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. | 12part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights. |
| 13And 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 master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. | 13David asked him, "Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?" He said, "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. |
| 14We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. | 14We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag." |
| 15And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, 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. | 15David asked him, "Can you lead me down to this raiding party?" He answered, "Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them." |
| 16And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, 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. | 16He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. |
| 17And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. | 17David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. |
| 18And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. | 18David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. |
| 19And 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. | 19Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. |
| 20And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil. | 20He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder." |
| 21And David came to the two hundred men, 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 near to the people, he saluted them. | 21Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were. |
| 22Then 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 his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. | 22But all the evil men and troublemakers among David's followers said, "Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go." |
| 23Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. | 23David replied, "No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. |
| 24For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. | 24Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike." |
| 25And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. | 25David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this. |
| 26And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD; | 26When David reached Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends, saying, "Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD's enemies." |
| 27To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, | 27David sent it to those who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir; |
| 28And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa, | 28to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa |
| 29And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, | 29and Rakal; to those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites; |
| 30And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, | 30to those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athak |
| 31And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt. | 31and Hebron; and to those in all the other places where he and his men had roamed. |
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