| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 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; | 1On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They 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. | 2They took captive the women who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest, but they did not kill anyone. They simply carried them off and 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 came to the city, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been 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. | 4Then David and the men who were with him wept loudly until they could weep no more. |
| 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 taken captive--Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal's widow. |
| 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 very upset, for the men were thinking of stoning him; each man grieved bitterly over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from 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 the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. |
| 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. | 8David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?" He said to him, "Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a 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. | 9So David went, accompanied by his six hundred men. When he came to the Wadi Besor, those who were in the rear stayed there. |
| 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. | 10David and four hundred men continued the pursuit, but two hundred men who were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor stayed there. |
| 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; | 11Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink. |
| 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. | 12They gave him a slice of pressed figs and two bunches of raisins to eat. This greatly refreshed him, for he had not eaten food or drunk 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 said to him, "To whom do you belong, and where are you from?" The young man said, "I am an Egyptian, the servant of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me when I was ill for three days. |
| 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 conducted a raid on the Negev of the Kerethites, on the area of Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb. 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 said to him, "Can you take us down to this raiding party?" He said, "Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to this raiding party." |
| 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. | 16So he took David down, and they found them spread out over the land. They were eating and drinking and enjoying themselves because of all the loot they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of 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. | 17But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels. |
| 18And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. | 18David retrieved everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued 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. | 19There was nothing missing, whether small or great. He retrieved sons and daughters, the plunder, and everything 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. | 20David took all the flocks and herds and drove them in front of the rest of the animals. People were 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 approached the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him, those whom they had left at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and the people who were with him. When David approached the people, he asked how they were doing. |
| 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 and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, "Since they didn't go with us, we won't give them any of the loot we retrieved! They may take only their wives and children. Let them lead them away and be gone!" |
| 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. | 23But David said, "No! You shouldn't do this, my brothers. Look at what the LORD has given us! He has protected us and has 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 you in this matter? The portion of the one who went down into the battle will be the same as the portion of the one who remained with the equipment! Let their portions be the same!" |
| 25And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. | 25From that time onward it was a binding ordinance for Israel, right up to the present time. |
| 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 came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah who were his friends, saying, "Here's a gift for you from the looting 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, | 27The gift was for those in the following locations: for those 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, | 28for 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 Racal; for those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites; |
| 30And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, | 30for those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach, |
| 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 for those in whatever other places David and his men had traveled. |
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