1 And it came to pass when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the Negev and Ziklag and had smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire. 2 And they had taken the women captives that were therein, from the youngest to the oldest; they did not kill any but carried them away and went on their way. 3 So 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. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him because the soul of all the people was bitter, each one for his sons and for his daughters; but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
7 And David said to Abiathar, the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring the ephod here to me. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David enquired 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. 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where some stayed behind. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
11 And they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David and gave him bread to eat and water to drink, 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two bunches 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. 13 And David said unto him, To whom dost thou belong and where art thou from? And the young Egyptian said, I am the slave to an Amalekite, and my master left me three days ago because I was sick. 14 We made an invasion upon towards the Negev from the Chereth and upon Judah and towards the Negev from Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. 15 And David said to him, Wilt 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.