David Defeats the Amalekites

30¹ And it cometh to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed unto the south, and unto Ziklag, and smite Ziklag, and burn it with fire, ² and they take captive the women who 'are' in it; from small unto great they have not put any one to death, and they lead away, and go on their way. ³ And David cometh in—and his men—unto the city, and lo, burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters have been taken captive! ⁴ And David lifteth up—and the people who 'are' with him—their voice and weep, till that they have no power to weep. ⁵ And the two wives of David have been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite; ⁶ and David hath great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people hath been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David doth strengthen himself in Jehovah his God.

⁷ And David saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, 'Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;' and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto David, ⁸ and David asketh at Jehovah, saying, 'I pursue after this troop—do I overtake it?' And He saith to him, 'Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost certainly deliver.' ⁹ And David goeth on, he and six hundred men who 'are' with him, and they come in unto the brook of Besor, and those left have stood still, ¹⁰ and David pursueth, he and four hundred men, (and two hundred men stand still who have been too faint to pass over the brook of Besor), ¹¹ and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, and they cause him to drink water, ¹² and give to him a piece of a bunch of dried figs, and two bunches of raisins, and he eateth, and his spirit returneth unto him, for he hath not eaten bread nor drunk water three days and three nights. ¹³ And David saith to him, 'Whose 'art' thou? and whence 'art' thou?' And he saith, 'An Egyptian youth I 'am', servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsaketh me, for I have been sick three days, ¹⁴ we pushed 'to' the south of the Cherethite, and against that which 'is' to Judah, and against the south of Caleb, and Ziklag we burned with fire.' ¹⁵ And David saith unto him, 'Dost thou bring me down unto this troop?' and he saith, 'Swear to me by God—thou dost not put me to death, nor dost thou shut me up into the hand of my lord—and I bring thee down unto this troop.' ¹⁶ And he bringeth him down, and lo, they are spread out over the face of all the earth, eating, and drinking, and feasting, with all the great spoil which they have taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. ¹⁷ And David smiteth them from the twilight even unto the evening of the morrow, and there hath not escaped of them a man, except four hundred young men who have ridden on the camels, and are fled. ¹⁸ And David delivereth all that the Amalekites have taken; also his two wives hath David delivered. ¹⁹ And there hath not lacked to them 'anything', from small unto great, and unto sons and daughters, and from the spoil, even unto all that they had taken to themselves, the whole hath David brought back, ²⁰ and David taketh the whole of the flock, and of the herd, they have led on before these cattle, and they say, 'This 'is' David's spoil.'

²¹ And David cometh in unto the two hundred men who were too faint to go after David, and whom they cause to abide at the brook of Besor, and they go out to meet David, and to meet the people who 'are' with him, and David approacheth the people, and asketh of them of welfare. ²² And every bad and worthless man, of the men who have gone with David, answereth, yea, they say, 'Because that they have not gone with us we do not give to them of the spoil which we have delivered, except each his wife and his children, and they lead away and go. ²³ And David saith, 'Ye do not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given to us, and He doth preserve us, and doth give the troop which cometh against us into our hand; ²⁴ and who doth hearken to you in this thing? for as the portion of him who was brought down into battle, so also 'is' the portion of him who is abiding by the vessels—alike they share.' ²⁵ And it cometh to pass from that day and forward, that he appointeth it for a statute and for an ordinance for Israel unto this day. ²⁶ And David cometh in unto Ziklag, and sendeth of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, (saying, 'Lo, for you a blessing, of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah),' ²⁷ to those in Beth-El, and to those in South Ramoth, and to those in Jattir, ²⁸ and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa, ²⁹ and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites, ³⁰ and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-Ashan, and to those in Athach, ³¹ and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David had gone up and down, he and his men.

The Death of Saul and His Sons

31¹ And the Philistines are fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa, ² and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul. ³ And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him—men with bow—and he is pained greatly by the archers; ⁴ and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, 'Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come—these uncircumcised—and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it. ⁵ And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul 'is' dead, and he falleth—he also—on his sword, and dieth with him; ⁶ and Saul dieth, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together. ⁷ And they see—the men of Israel, who 'are' beyond the valley, and who 'are' beyond the Jordan—that the men of Israel have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake the cities and flee, and Philistines come in, and dwell in them.

⁸ And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and they find Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa, ⁹ and they cut off his head, and strip off his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about, to proclaim tidings 'in' the house of their idols, and 'among' the people; ¹⁰ and they place his weapons 'in' the house of Ashtaroth, and his body they have fixed on the wall of Beth-Shan. ¹¹ And they hear regarding it—the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead—that which the Philistines have done to Saul, ¹² and all the men of valour arise, and go all the night, and take the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-Shan, and come in to Jabesh, and burn them there, ¹³ and they take their bones, and bury 'them' under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and fast seven days.

²³ and a certain one said to him, 'Sir, are those saved few?' and he said unto them, ²⁴ 'Be striving to go in through the straight gate, because many, I say to you, will seek to go in, and shall not be able; ²⁵ from the time the master of the house may have risen up, and may have shut the door, and ye may begin without to stand, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, lord, open to us, and he answering shall say to you, I have not known you whence ye are, ²⁶ then ye may begin to say, We did eat before thee, and did drink, and in our broad places thou didst teach; ²⁷ and he shall say, I say to you, I have not known you whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of the unrighteousness. ²⁸ 'There shall be there the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth, when ye may see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the reign of God, and yourselves being cast out without; ²⁹ and they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall recline in the reign of God, ³⁰ and lo, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.'

Jesus Laments over Jerusalem

³¹ On that day there came near certain Pharisees, saying to him, 'Go forth, and be going on hence, for Herod doth wish to kill thee;' ³² and he said to them, 'Having gone, say to this fox, Lo, I cast forth demons, and perfect cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third 'day' I am being perfected; ³³ but it behoveth me to-day, and to-morrow, and the 'day' following, to go on, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish out of Jerusalem. ³⁴ 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that is killing the prophets, and stoning those sent unto her, how often did I will to gather together thy children, as a hen her brood under the wings, and ye did not will. ³⁵ 'Lo, your house is being left to you desolate, and verily I say to you—ye may not see me, till it may come, when ye may say, Blessed 'is' he who is coming in the name of the Lord.'