1 Samuel 30

¹And 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,

²and 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.

³And 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.

⁴Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

⁵And David’s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶And 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.

⁷And 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹So 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.

¹⁰But 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.