1. David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned down Ziklag.
2. They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it from the youngest to the oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way.
3. When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned down. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped.
4. David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.
5. David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.
6. David was in a difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.
7. David said to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,
8. and David asked the Lord: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them? ” The Lord replied to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.”
9. David and the 600 men with him went as far as the Wadi Besor, where 200 men who were to remain behind would stop.
10. They stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor. David and 400 of the men continued in pursuit.
11. They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.
12. Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate he revived, for he hadn’t eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.
13. Then David said to him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from? ”“I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man,” he said. “My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago.
14. We raided the south country of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the south country of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”