1st Shamu'AL (1 Samuel) — 30
Daud Destroys the Amalakites
1 Three days later, when Daud and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalakites had made a raid into the Nagab and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground.
2 They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone.
3 When Daud and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families,
4 they wept until they could weep no more.
5 Daud’s two wives, Ahinuam from Yazraal and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured.
6 Daud was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But Daud found strength in 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH his 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH.
7 Then he said to Abiathar the Kuhan, “Bring me the ephod!” So Abiathar brought it.
8 Then Daud asked 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?” And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar to Daud, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!”
9 So Daud and his six hundred men set out, and they came to the brook Basur.
10 But two hundred of the men were too exhausted to cross the brook, so Daud continued the pursuit with four hundred men.
11 Along the way they found a Mitzraym man in a field and brought him to Daud, they gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.
12 They also gave him part of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins, for he had nothing to eat or drink for three days and nights. Before long his strength returned.
13 “To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?” Daud asked him. “I am a Mitzraym the slave of an Amalakite,” he replied. “My master abandoned me three days ago because I was sick.
14 We were on our way back from raiding the Karathites in the Nagab, the territory of Yahudah, and the land of Calab, and we had just burned Ziklag.”
15 “And Daud asked him; Will you lead me to this band of raiders?” The young man replied, “If you take an oath in the Name of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH that you will not kill me or give me back to my master, then I will guide you to them.”
16 So he led Daud to them, and they found the Amalakites spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of plunder they had taken from the Philistines and the land of Yahudah.
17 Daud and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them throughout that night and the entire next day until evening. None of the Amalakites escaped except four hundred young men who fled on camels.
18 Daud got back everything the Amalakites had taken, and he rescued his two wives.
19 Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. Daud brought everything back.
20 Daud also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock. “This plunder belongs to Daud!” they said.
21 Then Daud returned to the brook Basur and met up with the two hundred men who had been left behind because they were too exhausted to go with him. They went out to meet Daud and his men, and Daud greeted them joyfully.
22 But some evil troublemakers among Daud’s men said, “They did not go with us, so they can not have any of the plunder we recovered. Give them their wives and children, and tell them to be gone.”
23 But Daud said, “No, my brothers! Do not be selfish with what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has given us, For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has kept us safe and helped us defeat the band of raiders that attacked us.
24 Who will listen when you talk like this? We share and share alike, those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment.”
25 From then on Daud made this a decree and regulation for Yashar'AL, and it is still followed today.
26 When Daud arrived at Ziklag, he sent part of the plunder to the elders of Yahudah, who were his friends. “Here is a present for you, taken from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s enemies,” he said.
27 The gifts were sent to the people of the following towns Daud had visited: Bathal, Ramuth-nagab, Yattir,
28 Aruer, Siphmuth, Ashtemua,
29 Racal, the towns of the Yarahmaalites, the towns of the Kanites,
30 Hurmah, Bur-ashan, Athach,
31 Habrun, and all the other places Daud and his men had visited.