1 And it cometh to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed unto the south, and unto Ziklag, and smite Ziklag, and burn it with fire, 2 and they take captive the women who [are] in it; from small unto great they have not put any one to death, and they lead away, and go on their way. 3 And David cometh in -- and his men -- unto the city, and lo, burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters have been taken captive! 4 And David lifteth up -- and the people who [are] with him -- their voice and weep, till that they have no power to weep. 5 And the two wives of David have been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite; 6 and David hath great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people hath been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David doth strengthen himself in Jehovah his God.
7 And David saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, `Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;' and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto David, 8 and David asketh at Jehovah, saying, `I pursue after this troop -- do I overtake it?' And He saith to him, `Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost certainly deliver.' 9 And David goeth on, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, and they come in unto the brook of Besor, and those left have stood still, 10 and David pursueth, he and four hundred men, (and two hundred men stand still who have been too faint to pass over the brook of Besor),
11 and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, and they cause him to drink water, 12 and give to him a piece of a bunch of dried figs, and two bunches of raisins, and he eateth, and his spirit returneth unto him, for he hath not eaten bread nor drunk water three days and three nights. 13 And David saith to him, `Whose [art] thou? and whence [art] thou?' And he saith, `An Egyptian youth I [am], servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsaketh me, for I have been sick three days, 14 we pushed [to] the south of the Cherethite, and against that which [is] to Judah, and against the south of Caleb, and Ziklag we burned with fire.' 15 And David saith unto him, `Dost thou bring me down unto this troop?' and he saith, `Swear to me by God -- thou dost not put me to death, nor dost thou shut me up into the hand of my lord -- and I bring thee down unto this troop.'