1. Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire.
2. They took captive the women who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest. They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way.
3. When David and his men came to the city, they saw, and it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.
4. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep.
5. Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6. And David was in a very precarious situation, for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each one over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
7. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here for me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8. And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.”
9. So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi Besor, but the rest remained.
10. David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.
11. Then they found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David, and they gave him food and he ate; they also gave him water.