The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made an attack on the South and on Ziklag, and had overcome Ziklag and put it on fire;
1
Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town
2 And had made the women and all who were there, small and great, prisoners: they had not put any of them to death, but had taken them all away.
2
and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left.
3 And when David and his men came to the town, they saw that it had been burned down, and their wives and their sons and daughters had been made prisoners.
3
When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away.
4 Then David and the people who were with him gave themselves up to weeping till they were able to go on weeping no longer.
4
David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted.
5 And David's two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel, had been made prisoners.
5
Even David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away.
6 And David was greatly troubled; for the people were talking of stoning him, because their hearts were bitter, every man sorrowing for his sons and his daughters: but David made himself strong in the Lord his God.
6
David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage.
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Come here to me with the ephod. And Abiathar took the ephod to David.
7
David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod," and Abiathar brought it to him.
8 Then David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go after this band? will I be able to overtake them? And in answer he said, Go after them, for you will certainly overtake them, and get back everything.
8
David asked the Lord, "Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?" He answered, "Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives."
9 So David went, and his six hundred men went with him, and they came to the stream Besor.
9
So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there.
10 And David, with four hundred men, went on: but two hundred of them were overcome with weariness, and not able to go across the stream.
10
David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind.
11 And in the fields they saw an Egyptian whom they took to David, and they gave him bread, and he had a meal, and they gave him water for drink;
11
The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water,
12 And they gave him part of a cake of figs and some dry grapes; and after the food, his spirit came back to him, for he had had no food or drink for three days and nights.
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some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days.
13 And David said to him, Whose man are you and where do you come from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master went on without me because three days back I became ill.
13
David asked him, "Who is your master, and where are you from?" "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite," he answered. "My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick.
14 We made an attack on the south part of the country of the Cherethites, and on the land which is Judah's, and on the south of Caleb; and we put Ziklag on fire.
14
We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag."
15 And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, If you give me your oath that you will not put me to death or give me up to my master, I will take you to them.
15
"Will you lead me to those raiders?" David asked him. He answered, "I will if you promise me in God's name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master."
16 And when he had taken him down, they saw them all, seated about on all sides, feasting and drinking among all the mass of goods which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
16
And he led David to them. The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah.
17 And David went on fighting them from evening till the evening of the day after; and not one of them got away but only four hundred young men who went in flight on camels.
17
At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped.
18 And David got back everything the Amalekites had taken; and he got back his two wives.
18
David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives;
19 There was no loss of anything, small or great, sons or daughters or goods or anything which they had taken away: David got it all back.
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nothing at all was missing. David got back all his men's sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken.
20 And they took all the flocks and herds, and driving them in front of him, said, These are David's.
20
He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of them and said, "This belongs to David!"
21 And David came to the two hundred men, who because of weariness had not gone with him, but were waiting at the stream Besor: and they went out, meeting David and the people who were with him; and when they came near them, they said, How are you?
21
Then David went back to the two hundred men who had been too weak to go with him and had stayed behind at Besor Brook. They came forward to meet David and his men, and David went up to them and greeted them warmly.
22 Then the bad and good-for-nothing men among those who went with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will give them nothing of the goods which we have got back, but only to every man his wife and children, so that he may take them and go.
22
But some mean and worthless men who had gone with David said, "They didn't go with us, and so we won't give them any of the loot. They can take their wives and children and go away."
23 Then David said, You are not to do this, my brothers, after what the Lord has given us, who has kept us safe and given up the band which came against us into our hands.
23
But David answered, "My brothers, you can't do this with what the Lord has given us! He kept us safe and gave us victory over the raiders.
24 Who is going to give any attention to you in this question? for an equal part will be given to him who went to the fight and to him who was waiting by the goods: they are all to have the same.
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No one can agree with what you say! All must share alike: whoever stays behind with the supplies gets the same share as the one who goes into battle."
25 And so he made it a rule and an order for Israel from that day till now.
25
David made this a rule, and it has been followed in Israel ever since.
26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the goods to the responsible men of Judah, and to his friends, saying, Here is an offering for you from the goods of those who were fighting against the Lord;
26
When David returned to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah, with the message, "Here is a present for you from the loot we took from the Lord's enemies."
27 He sent to those who were in Beth-el, and in Ramah of the South, and in Jattir;
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He sent it to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir,
28 And to those in Arara and Eshtemoa
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Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,
29 and Carmel and in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites;
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and Racal; to the clan of Jerahmeel, to the Kenites,
30 And to those who were in Hormah and in Bor-ashan and in Athach;
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and to the people in the towns of Hormah, Borashan, Athach,
31 And in Hebron, and to all the places where David and his men had been living.
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and Hebron. He sent it to all the places where he and his men had roamed.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.