1 Samuel 30

1 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women and all that were therein, both small and great: they slew not any, but carried them off, and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and shalt without fail recover all. 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they gave him water to drink; 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. 13 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick. 14 We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongeth to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. 15 And David said to him, Wilt thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, 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. 17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto 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. 18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives. 19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David brought back all. 20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil.

21 And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. 22 Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those that went with David, 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 he may lead them away, and depart. 23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given unto us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand. 24 And who will hearken unto you in this matter? for as his share is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his share be that tarrieth by the baggage: they shall share alike. 25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah: 27 to them that were in Beth-el, and to them that were in Ramoth of the South, and to them that were in Jattir, 28 and to them that were in Aroer, and to them that were in Siphmoth, and to them that were in Eshtemoa, 29 and to them that were in Racal, and to them that were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them that were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 and to them that were in Hormah, and to them that were in Bor-ashan, and to them that were in Athach, 31 and to them that were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.

Guerra contra os amalequitas

1 Dois dias depois, Davi e os seus homens chegaram a Ziclague, a sua cidade. Enquanto ele havia estado fora, os amalequitas tinham invadido o Sul da terra de Judá e atacado Ziclague. Eles queimaram a cidade 2 e prenderam todas as mulheres. Não mataram ninguém, mas foram embora e levaram todos como prisioneiros. 3 Quando Davi e os seus homens chegaram, viram que a cidade tinha sido queimada e que as suas mulheres, os seus filhos e as suas filhas haviam sido levados embora. 4 Então Davi e os seus homens começaram a chorar e choraram até ficarem sem forças. 5 As duas mulheres de Davi, Ainoã, de Jezreel, e Abigail, viúva de Nabal, da cidade de Carmelo, também haviam sido levadas.

6 Davi ficou então numa situação muito difícil, pois os seus homens estavam tão amargurados por ficarem sem os seus filhos, que falavam até em matá-lo a pedradas. Mas o Senhor, seu Deus, lhe deu coragem. 7 E ele disse ao sacerdote Abiatar, filho de Aimeleque:

— Traga aqui o manto sacerdotal para que possamos consultar a Deus.

E Abiatar trouxe. 8 Então Davi perguntou a Deus, o Senhor:

— Devo ir atrás desses invasores? Conseguirei pegá-los?

Deus respondeu:

— Vá atrás deles. Você os pegará e libertará os prisioneiros.

9 Então Davi e os seus seiscentos homens saíram, e, quando chegaram ao ribeirão de Besor, alguns deles ficaram ali. 10 Davi continuou o seu caminho com quatrocentos homens. Os outros duzentos estavam cansados demais para atravessar o ribeirão e por isso ficaram para trás.

11 Os homens de Davi acharam no campo um rapaz egípcio e o levaram a Davi. Deram ao rapaz comida, água, 12 figos secos e dois cachos de passas. Ele havia ficado três dias e três noites sem comer, nem beber. Mas, depois de comer, as suas forças voltaram. 13 Então Davi perguntou:

— Quem é o seu dono? De onde você é?

— Eu sou egípcio e sou escravo de um amalequita! — respondeu ele. — O meu dono me deixou aqui há três dias porque fiquei doente. 14 Nós invadimos a terra dos queretitas, a região Sul de Judá e o território do grupo de famílias de Calebe e queimamos a cidade de Ziclague.

15 Então Davi lhe perguntou:

— Você pode me levar até onde os amalequitas estão?

— Sim, — respondeu ele — se o senhor prometer em nome de Deus que não me matará, nem me entregará ao meu dono.

16 Então ele levou Davi. Os amalequitas estavam espalhados por toda a região, comendo, bebendo e festejando por causa da grande quantidade de coisas que haviam tomado na terra dos filisteus e na terra de Judá. 17 No dia seguinte ao amanhecer, Davi os atacou e lutou até o anoitecer. E nenhum deles escapou, a não ser quatrocentos rapazes que montaram camelos e fugiram. 18 Davi salvou todos os que tinham sido levados como prisioneiros, incluindo as suas duas mulheres, e trouxe de volta tudo o que os amalequitas haviam tomado. 19 Não ficou faltando nada: Davi levou de volta todos os filhos e todas as filhas dos seus homens e todas as coisas, grandes e pequenas, que os amalequitas haviam tomado. 20 Levou também todas as ovelhas e todo o gado. Então os homens de Davi levaram a ele os seus animais e disseram:

— Estes animais são seus.

21 Aí Davi voltou para o lugar onde estavam os duzentos homens que não tinham ido com ele e haviam ficado atrás, no ribeirão de Besor, por estarem muito cansados. Eles saíram ao encontro de Davi e dos seus homens. Davi chegou perto deles e os cumprimentou. 22 Mas alguns homens ordinários e de mau caráter que tinham ido com Davi disseram:

— Eles não foram conosco; por isso, não lhes daremos nada do que trouxemos. Eles podem pegar as suas mulheres e os seus filhos e ir embora.

23 Mas Davi respondeu:

— Meus irmãos, vocês não podem fazer isso com o que o Senhor Deus nos deu! Ele nos salvou e nos deu a vitória sobre os inimigos. 24 Ninguém pode concordar com o que vocês estão dizendo! Tudo deve ser repartido em partes iguais: quem ficou atrás com a bagagem deve receber o mesmo que aquele que lutou na batalha.

25 Davi fez desta ordem uma lei. E até hoje ela é seguida em Israel.

26 Quando Davi voltou para Ziclague, pegou parte do que havia tomado dos inimigos e mandou para os seus amigos, os líderes de Judá, com esta mensagem:

— Este é um presente para vocês, tirado das coisas que nós tomamos dos inimigos de Deus, o Senhor.

27 Davi mandou presentes aos líderes das seguintes cidades: Betel, Ramá, que fica ao sul de Judá, Jatir, 28 Aroer, Sifmote, Estemoa, 29-31 Racal, Horma, Borasã, Atace, Hebrom; e também às cidades das tribos dos jerameelitas e dos queneus — todos os lugares onde Davi e os seus homens haviam estado.