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. 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. 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. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep. Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 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.

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. 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." So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi Besor, but the rest remained. David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.

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. They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and this revived him, because he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights. Then David said to him, "To whom do you belong, and from where are you? The young man said, "I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and that which belongs to Judah and then the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire." So David asked him, "Will you take me down to this band of raiders?" He said, "Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and that you will not deliver me into my master’s hand! Then I will take you down to this band." So he took him down, and there they were, spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; David also rescued his two wives. None of theirs was missing from the smallest to the greatest, even sons and daughters, from the plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything. And David took all of the sheep, and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, "This is David’s plunder."

Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David; they had left them behind at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and asked them how they were doing. Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder which we recovered, except each man may take his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!" But David said to them, "You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the raiding band that came against us into our hand. And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike." So from that day and beyond, he made it a rule and a regulation for Israel until this day.

Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!" It was for those in Bethel, for those in Ramoth of the Negev, for those in Jattir, for those in Aroer, for those in Siphmoth, for those in Eshtemoa, for those in Racal, for those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, for those in the towns of the Kenites, for those in Hormah, for those in Bor Ashan, for those in Athach, for those in Hebron, and for all the places where David and his men had roamed.

Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. Saul was in the thick of the battle, and the archers spotted him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised do not come and thrust me through and make a fool of me!" But his armor bearer was not willing to do so because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men together that same day.

And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those who were beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled. Thus the Philistines came and lived in them.

And then the next day, the Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent messengers around in the land of the Philistines to proclaim victory in the temples of their idols and to the people. And they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreth, and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan. When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard about it, what the Philistines had done to Saul, all of the valiant men set out and went all night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and every Israelite fled away from before the Philistines. And they fell slain upon Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. And the battle was heavy against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. And Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and deal harshly with me." But he was very afraid. Then Saul took the sword and fell upon it. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon the sword, and he died. So Saul died. And his three sons and all his house died together. And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and dwelled in them. And it happened that on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. And they stripped him and took his head and his weapons, and they sent them throughout the land of the Philistines to bring news to their idols and the nation. And they put his weapons in the temple of their gods, and they fastened his skull to the temple of Dagon. When all Jabesh-Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, every strong man arose and took the dead body of Saul and the dead bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days. So Saul died on account of his sin which he had sinned against Yahweh concerning the command of Yahweh that he did not keep. He also consulted a medium to seek guidance. But he did not seek Yahweh. So Yahweh put him to death and turned over the kingship to David, the son of Jesse.

Now after the turmoil had ceased, Paul summoned the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed to travel to Macedonia. And after he had gone through those regions and encouraged them at length, he came to Greece and stayed three months. Because a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he came to a decision to return through Macedonia. And Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, and Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, and Gaius from Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia, were accompanying him. And these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us in Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread and came to them at Troas within five days, where we stayed seven days.

And on the first day of the week, when we had assembled to break bread, Paul began conversing with them, because he was going to leave on the next day, and he extended his message until midnight. Now there were quite a few lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered. And a certain young man named Eutychus who was sitting in the window was sinking into a deep sleep while Paul was conversing at length. Being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and threw himself on him, and putting his arms around him, said, "Do not be distressed, for his life is in him." So he went up and broke bread, and when he had eaten and talked for a long time, until dawn, then he departed. And they led the youth away alive, and were greatly comforted.

But we went on ahead to the ship and put out to sea for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. For having made arrangements in this way, he himself was intending to travel by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. And we sailed from there on the next day, and arrived opposite Chios. And on the next day we approached Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not be having to spend time in Asia. For he was hurrying if it could be possible for him to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.

And from Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them, "You know from the first day on which I set foot in Asia how I was the whole time with you— serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews— how I did not shrink from proclaiming to you anything that would be profitable, and from teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks with respect to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

"And now behold, bound by the Spirit I am traveling to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in town after town, saying that bonds and persecutions await me. But I consider my life as worth nothing to myself, in order to finish my mission and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

"And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you on this very day that I am guiltless of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he obtained through the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth in order to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.

"And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have desired no one’s silver or gold or clothing! You yourselves know that these hands served to meet my needs and the needs of those who were with me. I have shown you with respect to all things that by working hard in this way it is necessary to help those who are in need, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

And when he had said these things, he fell to his knees and prayed with them all. And there was considerable weeping by all, and hugging Paul, they kissed him, especially distressed at the statement that he had said, that they were going to see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.