June
18
1
Samuel 29, 30
1Sa
29:1 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to
Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by the spring which is in Jezreel.
1Sa
29:2 The lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by
thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with
Achish.
1Sa
29:3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do
these Hebrews here?
Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Isn't this David, the
servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days,
or rather
these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away to
me to this day?
1Sa
29:4 But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; and the
princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he
may go back to his place where you have appointed him, and let him
not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an
adversary to us: for with what should this fellow
reconcile himself to his lord? should it not be with the heads of
these men?
1Sa
29:5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances,
saying, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands?
1Sa
29:6 Then Achish called David, and said to him, As Yahweh lives, you
have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in
the army is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in you since
the day of your coming to me to this day: nevertheless the lords
don't favor you.
1Sa
29:7 Therefore now return, and go in peace, that you not displease
the lords of the Philistines.
1Sa
29:8 David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what have you
found in your servant so long as I have been before you to this day,
that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
1Sa
29:9 Achish answered David, I know that you are good in my sight, as
an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have
said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
1Sa
29:10 Therefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants
of your lord who have come with you; and as soon as you are up early
in the morning, and have light, depart.
1Sa
29:11 So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the
morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. The Philistines
went up to Jezreel.
1Sa
30:1 It happened, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the
third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South, and on
Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag, and burned it with fire,
1Sa
30:2 and had taken captive the women and
all who were therein, both small and
great: they didn't kill any, but carried them off, and went their
way.
1Sa
30:3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned
with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were
taken captive.
1Sa
30:4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their
voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
1Sa
30:5 David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess,
and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
1Sa
30:6 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 for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in
Yahweh his God.
1Sa
30:7 David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Please
bring me here the ephod. Abiathar brought there the ephod to David.
1Sa
30:8 David inquired of Yahweh, saying, If I pursue after this troop,
shall I overtake them? He answered him, Pursue; for you shall surely
overtake them,
and shall without fail recover all.
1Sa
30:9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him,
and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.
1Sa
30:10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred
stayed behind, who were so faint that they couldn't go over the brook
Besor.
1Sa
30:11 They found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David,
and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink.
1Sa
30:12 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.
1Sa
30:13 David said to him, To whom do you belong? and where are you
from? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite;
and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.
1Sa
30:14 We made a raid on the South of the Cherethites, and on that
which belongs to Judah, and on the South of Caleb; and we burned
Ziklag with fire.
1Sa
30:15 David said to him, Will you bring me down to this troop? He
said, Swear to me by God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver
me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this
troop.
1Sa
30:16 When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad
over all the ground, 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.
1Sa
30:17 David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the
next day: and there not a man of them escaped, except four hundred
young men, who rode on camels and fled.
1Sa
30:18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David
rescued his two wives.
1Sa
30:19 There was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great,
neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had
taken to them: David brought back all.
1Sa
30:20 David took all the flocks and the herds, which
they drove before those other
livestock, and said, This is David's spoil.
1Sa
30:21 David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they
could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook
Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people who
were with him: and when David came near to the people, he greeted
them.
1Sa
30:22 Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those
who went with David, and said, Because they didn't go with us, we
will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered,
except to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them
away, and depart.
1Sa
30:23 Then said David, You shall not do so, my brothers, with that
which Yahweh has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the
troop that came against us into our hand.
1Sa
30:24 Who will listen to you in this matter? for as his share is who
goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who tarries by the
baggage: they shall share alike.
1Sa
30:25 It was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and
an ordinance for Israel to this day.
1Sa
30:26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to the elders
of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you of
the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh:
1Sa
30:27 To those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth
of the South, and to those who were in Jattir,
1Sa
30:28 and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in
Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa,
1Sa
30:29 and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the
cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of
the Kenites,
1Sa
30:30 and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in
Borashan, and to those who were in Athach,
1Sa
30:31 and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where
David himself and his men used to stay.