16. So he led David to them, and they found the Amalekites spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of plunder they had taken from the Philistines and the land of Judah.
17. David and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them throughout that night and the entire next day until evening. None of the Amalekites escaped except 400 young men who fled on camels.
18. David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives.
19. Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back.
20. He also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock. “This plunder belongs to David!” they said.
21. Then David returned to the brook Besor and met up with the 200 men who had been left behind because they were too exhausted to go with him. They went out to meet David and his men, and David greeted them joyfully.
22. But some evil troublemakers among David’s men said, “They didn’t go with us, so they can’t have any of the plunder we recovered. Give them their wives and children, and tell them to be gone.”
23. But David said, “No, my brothers! Don’t be selfish with what the lord has given us. He has kept us safe and helped us defeat the band of raiders that attacked us.