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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 Samuel 30 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_samuel/30.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_samuel/30-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > 1 Samuel 30</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/29.htm" title="1 Samuel 29">◄</a> 1 Samuel 30 <a href="../1_samuel/31.htm" title="1 Samuel 31">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">David Rescues His Soldiers' Families</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_1"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.1" class="v9_30_1">1</span>It took David and his men three days to reach Ziklag. But while they had been away, the Amalekites had been raiding in the desert around there. They had attacked Ziklag, burned it to the ground, </span><span class="v9_30_2"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.2" class="v9_30_2">2</span>and had taken away the women and children. </span><span class="v9_30_3"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.3" class="v9_30_3">3</span>When David and his men came to Ziklag, they saw the burned-out ruins and learned that their families had been taken captive. </span><span class="v9_30_4"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.4" class="v9_30_4">4</span>They started crying and kept it up until they were too weak to cry any more. </span><span class="v9_30_5"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.5" class="v9_30_5">5</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.30.5!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken captive with everyone else.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_6"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.6" class="v9_30_6">6</span>David was desperate. His soldiers were so upset over what had happened to their sons and daughters that they were thinking about stoning David to death. But he felt the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God giving him strength, </span><span class="v9_30_7"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.7" class="v9_30_7">7</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.30.7!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and he said to the priest, “Abiathar, let's ask God what to do.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_7">Abiathar brought everything he needed to get answers from God, and he went over to David. </span><span class="v9_30_8"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.8" class="v9_30_8">8</span>Then David asked the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, “Should I go after the people who raided our town? Can I catch up with them?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_8">“Go after them,” the <span class="nd">Lord</span> answered. “You will catch up with them, and you will rescue your families.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_9"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.9-1Sam.30.10" class="v9_30_9">9-10</span>David led his 600 men to Besor Gorge, but 200 of them were too tired to go across. So they stayed behind, while David and the other 400 men crossed the gorge.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_11"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.11" class="v9_30_11">11</span>Some of David's men found an Egyptian out in a field and took him to David. They gave the Egyptian some bread, and he ate it. Then they gave him a drink of water, </span><span class="v9_30_12"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.12" class="v9_30_12">12</span>some dried figs, and two handfuls of raisins. This was the first time in three days he had tasted food or water. Now he felt much better.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_13"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.13" class="v9_30_13">13</span>“Who is your master?” David asked. “And where do you come from?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_13">“I'm from Egypt,” the young man answered. “I'm the servant of an Amalekite, but he left me here three days ago because I was sick. </span><span class="v9_30_14"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.14" class="v9_30_14">14</span>We had attacked some towns in the desert where the Cherethites live, in the area that belongs to Judah, and in the desert where the Caleb clan lives. And we burned down Ziklag.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_15"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.15" class="v9_30_15">15</span>“Will you take me to those Amalekites?” David asked.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_15">“Yes, I will, if you promise with God as a witness that you won't kill me or hand me over to my master.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_16"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.16" class="v9_30_16">16</span>He led David to the Amalekites. They were eating and drinking everywhere, celebrating because of what they had taken from Philistia and Judah. </span><span class="v9_30_17"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.17" class="v9_30_17">17</span>David attacked just before sunrise the next day and fought until sunset.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.30.17!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Four hundred Amalekites rode away on camels, but they were the only ones who escaped.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_18"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.18" class="v9_30_18">18</span>David rescued his two wives and everyone else the Amalekites had taken from Ziklag. </span><span class="v9_30_19"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.19" class="v9_30_19">19</span>No one was missing—young or old, sons or daughters. David brought back everything that had been stolen, </span><span class="v9_30_20"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.20" class="v9_30_20">20</span>including their livestock.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_20">David also took the sheep and cattle that the Amalekites had with them, but he kept these separate from the others. Everyone agreed that these would be David's reward.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_21"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.21" class="v9_30_21">21</span>On the way back, David went to the 200 men he had left at Besor Gorge, because they had been too tired to keep up with him. They came toward David and the people who were with him. When David was close enough, he greeted the 200 men and asked how they were doing.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_22"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.22" class="v9_30_22">22</span>Some of David's men were good-for-nothings, and they said, “Those men didn't go with us to the battle, so they don't get any of the things we took back from the Amalekites. Let them take their wives and children and go!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_23"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.23" class="v9_30_23">23</span>But David said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_30_23">My friends, don't be so greedy with what the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has given us! The <span class="nd">Lord</span> protected us and gave us victory over the people who attacked. </span><span class="v9_30_24"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.24" class="v9_30_24">24</span>Who would pay attention to you, anyway? Soldiers who stay behind to guard the camp get as much as those who go into battle.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_25"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.25" class="v9_30_25">25</span>David made this a law for Israel, and it has been the same ever since.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_26"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.26" class="v9_30_26">26</span>David went back to Ziklag with everything they had taken from the Amalekites. He sent some of these things as gifts to his friends who were leaders of Judah, and he told them, “We took these things from the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s enemies. Please accept them as a gift.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_30_27"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.30.27-1Sam.30.31" class="v9_30_27">27-31</span>This is a list of the towns where David sent gifts: Bethel,<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.30.27-1Sam.30.31!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Ramoth in the Southern Desert, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Racal, the towns belonging to the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach, and Hebron. He also sent gifts to the other towns where he and his men had traveled.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">30.17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">just … sunset: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “at dusk, and fought until sunset on the next day.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">30.27-31 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Bethel: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Bethuel” (see Joshua 19.4).</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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