¶ Dauid returnyng from kynge Achis fyndeth zi••leg burnt.
CAPI. XXX.
BUt when Dauid & his men were come [unspec A] to Zikleg the thyrde daye, the Amaleki∣tes had russhed in vpō the south, & vpon Zikleg, & had smytten Zikleg, & burnt it wt fyre, & had taken the women (that were ther∣in) prysoners, both small and great: but siue not a man, saue caryed them with them, and went theyr wayes. So Dauid and his men came to the citie: & beholde, it was burnt with fyre, and theyr wyues, theyr sonnes and theyr doughters were caryed away. Then Dauid & the people that was with hym, lyft vp theyr hoyces & wepte, vntyll they coulde wepe no more. And Dauids two wyues were taken [unspec B] prisoners also: Ahinoam the Iezraelite, and Abigall the wyfe of Nabal the Carmelite. And Dauid was in a shrewde combraunce: for the people entended to stone hym, bycause the hert{is} of al the people were vexed for theyr sonnes & theyr doughters. But Dauid toke a good courage to hym in the lorde his God, and * 1.1 sayd to Abiathar the preest Ahimelechs sonne: I pray the, bryng me the Ephod. And Abiathar brought the Ephod to Dauid. And Dauid asked counsayle at the lorde, saynge: shall I folow after this companye? & shall I ouertake them? And he answered hym: folow for thou shalte ouertake them, & recouer the praye. So Dauid & the. vi. C. men that were with hym, went and came to the ryuer Besor, where a parte of them abode. But Dauid and iiii. C. men folowed. For. ii. C. abode behynde beynge to wery to go ouer the ryuer Besor. And they founde an Egypcian in the felde, & [unspec C] brought hym to Dauid * 1.2 & gaue hym breade to eate, and water to drynke, and gaue hym a fewe fygges & two clusters of reasens. And when he had eaten, his spirite came agayne to hym: for he had eaten no bread, nor dronke no water in thre dayes and thre nyghtes.
And Dauid sayd vnto hym: to whom be∣longest thou? and whence arte thou? he sayd? [unspec D] I am a yonge man of Egypte and seruaunt to an Amalekite: and my mayster left me be∣hynde, bycause it is thre dayes agone, that I fell sycke: we came a rouynge vpon the south of Chretus, and agaynst Iuda, and towarde the south of Caleb. And we burnt Zikleg wt fyre. And Dauid sayd vnto hym: Canst thou brynge me to this companye? And he sayde: Swere vnto me by god, that thou wylte ney¦ther kyll me, nor delyuer me into the handes of my mayster, and I wyll brynge the to the companye. And when he had brought hym thyther: Beholde, they laye scattered abrode vpon the earthe, eatyng & drynkyng, & daun∣syng, bycause of the plenteous & great praye that they had caried away out of the lande of [unspec E] the Philistines, & out of the lande of Iuda.
And Dauid layd vpon them from the euen vntyll the twylyght on the morowe: so that there escaped not a man of them, saue foure hundred yong men whiche rode away vpon camels, & fled. And Dauid recouered all that the Amalekites had caryed awaye, & Dauid rescued his two wyues: so that there was no person of them lackyng, small or great, sonne or doughter, or of the spoyle of all that they had taken awaye, Dauid recouered them all agayne. And Dauid toke all the shepe, & the oxen. And they draue them before his ca••••el, and sayde: this is Dauids pray. And Daui•• came to the. ii. C. men, that were to werye for to folowe Dauid, whom they had made also to abyde at the ryuer Besor. And they came to mete Dauid, and the people that were with hym. And when Dauid came to the people, he saluted them. Then answered all the wycked [unspec F] & the vnthryftes (of the men that went with Dauid) & sayd: Bycause they went not wt vs, therfore wyll we gyue them none of the pray, that we haue recouered. But let euery man take his wyfe & his chyldren. These let them cary away, and be walkyng. Then sayde Da∣uid: ye shal not do so (my ••brethren) with that whiche the Lorde hath gyuen vs, and hath preserued vs, & delyuered the companye that came agaynst vs, into our handes. For who shulde hecken vnto you in this matter?
* 1.3 But as his parte is that goth downe and fyghteth, so shal his parte be, that taryeth by the stuffe that it may be parted alyke. And so from that day forwarde, was that made a sta¦tute & lawe in Israel vntyl this daye. When Dauid therfore came to Zikleg, he sent ❀ (gyf∣tes) of the pray vnto the elders of Iuda & to [unspec G] his frendes, saynge: se, there is a blessyng for you, of the spoyle of the enemyes of the lorde▪