13. Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong? Where are you from?” “I am a young Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” he said. “My master abandoned me three days ago because I fell sick.
14. We made a raid in the Negev of the Cherethites, and on Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb; also we burned Ziklag with fire.”
15. Then David asked him, “Will you lead me to this raiding band?” “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or deliver me into my master’s hands,” he said, “and I will lead you to this marauding band.”
16. So he led him down, and behold, they were scattered over all the area, eating, drinking and feasting because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
17. David attacked them from the twilight until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped, except 400 young men who rode on camels and fled.
18. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.
19. There was nothing of theirs missing, whether young or old, sons or daughters, spoils or anything else that had been carried off—David recovered everything.
20. David took all the flocks and the herd that they had driven ahead of the other cattle, so they said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21. When David reached the 200 men—who had been too exhausted to follow David and were left at Wadi Besor—they came out to meet David and to meet the men with him, so David approached these people and greeted them.
22. But all the wicked men and worthless fellows among those who accompanied David said, “Because they did not accompany us, we shouldn’t give them any of the spoil that we’ve recovered, except every man may take his wife and his children and leave.”
23. “You must not do so, my brothers with what Adonai has given us,” David said. “It is He who has protected us and gave into our hands the raiding band that attacked us.
24. Who would listen to you in this matter? The share of him who went down to the battle is to be the same as that of him who remained by the baggage. They will share alike.”
25. So it has been from that day forward—he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.