1 Sam. 29:1‑31:13• 1And the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek; and Israel encamped by the spring that is in Jizreel.
2And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish.
3And the princes of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years, and I have found nothing in him since the day of his falling away to me to this day?
4But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go again to his place where thou hast appointed him, that he go not down with us to the battle, that in the battle he be not an adversary to us; for wherewith should this fellow reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?
5Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul smote his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
6And Achish called David, and said to him, As Jehovah liveth, thou art upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the camp is acceptable to me; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to this day; but thou art not acceptable to the lords.
7And now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.
8And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee to this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
9And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art acceptable to me, as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
10And now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee; and rise ye early in the morning, and when ye have daylight, depart.
11And David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jizreel.
1And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire;
2and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way.
3And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives.
4Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
5And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.
7And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David.
8And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake them and shalt certainly recover.
9So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind.
10And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the torrent Besor.
11And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink,
12and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights.
13And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.
14We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and against what belongs to Judah, and against the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
15And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither put me to death nor deliver me up into the hand of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.
16And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over the whole land, 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.
17And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.
18And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken: and David recovered his two wives.
19And there was nothing missed by them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken: David brought all back.
20And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before the other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
21And David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and whom they had left behind at the torrent Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him; and David drew near to the people and saluted them.
22And all the wicked men, and men of Belial, of those that had gone with David, answered and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.
23Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah has given us, who has preserved us, and given the troop that came against us into our hand.
24And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike.
25And it was so from that day forward; and he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26And David came to Ziklag, and he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:
27to those in Bethel, and to those in south Ramoth, and to those in Jattir,
28and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa,
29and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites,
30and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-ashan, and to those in Athach,
31and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men went about.
1And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on mount Gilboa.
2And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.
3And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers.
4Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.
5And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on his sword, and died with him.
6So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together.
7And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the valley, and they that were on this side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8And it came to pass the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa.
9And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent them into the land of the Philistines round about, to announce the glad tidings in the houses of their idols, and to the people.
10And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
11And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul,
12all the valiant men arose and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burned them there.
13And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. (1 Sam. 29:1‑31:13)