So David left, (A)he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where some who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for (B)two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor stayed behind.

11 Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. 12 They also gave him a slice of fig cake and two cakes of raisins, and he ate; (C)then his spirit [a]revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master abandoned me when I became sick three days ago. 14 We carried out an attack on (D)the [b]Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on (E)the [c]Negev of Caleb, and (F)we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band of raiders?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”

16 Now when he had brought him down, behold, they were dispersed over all the land, (G)eating and drinking and celebrating because of (H)all the great plunder that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 30:12 Lit returned to him
  2. 1 Samuel 30:14 I.e., South country
  3. 1 Samuel 30:14 I.e., South country

David and the six hundred men(A) with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind. 10 Two hundred of them were too exhausted(B) to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit.

11 They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat— 12 part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived,(C) for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

13 David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?”

He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite.(D) My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. 14 We raided the Negev of the Kerethites,(E) some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb.(F) And we burned(G) Ziklag.”

15 David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?”

He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master,(H) and I will take you down to them.”

16 He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling(I) because of the great amount of plunder(J) they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah.

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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 abode behind, which 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 made him drink water;

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 agone I fell sick.

14 We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, 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.

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