< 撒母耳記上 25 >
1 撒母耳死了,以色列眾人聚集,為他哀哭,將他葬在拉瑪-他自己的墳墓裏。 大衛起身,下到巴蘭的曠野。
And Samuel died; and all the Israelites assembled themselves together, and lamented for him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 在瑪雲有一個人,他的產業在迦密,是一個大富戶,有三千綿羊,一千山羊;他正在迦密剪羊毛。
And there was a man in Ma'on, whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was, while they were shearing his sheep, at Carmel.
3 那人名叫拿八,是迦勒族的人;他的妻名叫亞比該,是聰明俊美的婦人。拿八為人剛愎凶惡。
Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigayil: and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful form; but the man was hard-hearted and evil in his deeds; and he was of the house of Caleb.
And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5 大衛就打發十個僕人,吩咐他們說:「你們上迦密去見拿八,提我的名問他安。
And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name after his well-being.
6 要對那富戶如此說:『願你平安,願你家平安,願你一切所有的都平安。
And ye shall say, May it thus be throughout thy life; and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and unto all that thou hast be peace.
7 現在我聽說有人為你剪羊毛,你的牧人在迦密的時候和我們在一處,我們沒有欺負他們,他們也未曾失落甚麼。
And now have I heard that thou hast sheep-shearers: now thy shepherds have been with us, we have not injured them, neither hath there aught been missing unto them, all the time they were at Carmel.
8 可以問你的僕人,他們必告訴你。所以願我的僕人在你眼前蒙恩,因為是在好日子來的。求你隨手取點賜與僕人和你兒子大衛。』」
Ask thy young men, and they will tell it thee. Therefore let the young men find favor in thy eyes; for on a festive day are we come: give, I pray thee, whatsoever thy hand is capable of unto thy servants, and to thy son, to David.
9 大衛的僕人到了,將這話提大衛的名都告訴了拿八,就住了口。
And David's young men came, and they spoke to Nabal in accordance with all these words in the name of David; and then they ceased.
10 拿八回答大衛的僕人說:「大衛是誰?耶西的兒子是誰?近來悖逆主人奔逃的僕人甚多,
And Nabal answered the servants of David, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? now-a-days there are many servants that break away every one from his master.
11 我豈可將飲食和為我剪羊毛人所宰的肉給我不知道從哪裏來的人呢?」
Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my sheep-shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they are?
12 大衛的僕人就轉身從原路回去,照這話告訴大衛。
And David's young men turned about on their way, and returned, and came and told him in accordance with all these words.
13 大衛向跟隨他的人說:「你們各人都要帶上刀!」眾人就都帶上刀,大衛也帶上刀。跟隨大衛上去的約有四百人,留下二百人看守器具。
And David said unto his men, Gird ye on, every man, his sword. And they girded on, every man, his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the baggage.
14 有拿八的一個僕人告訴拿八的妻亞比該說:「大衛從曠野打發使者來問我主人的安,主人卻辱罵他們。
But one of the young men told Abigayil, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master; but he hath spoken rudely to them.
15 但是那些人待我們甚好;我們在田野與他們來往的時候,沒有受他們的欺負,也未曾失落甚麼。
Whereas the men have been very good unto us; and we have not been injured, neither have we missed any thing, all the time that we went about with them, while we were in the field:
16 我們在他們那裏牧羊的時候,他們晝夜作我們的保障。
A wall were they around us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them, feeding the flocks.
17 所以你當籌劃,看怎樣行才好;不然,禍患定要臨到我主人和他全家。他性情凶暴,無人敢與他說話。」
And now know and consider what thou canst do; for evil is determined on against our master, and against all his household; and he is too greatly a worthless man for me to speak to him.
18 亞比該急忙將二百餅,兩皮袋酒,五隻收拾好了的羊,五細亞烘好了的穗子,一百葡萄餅,二百無花果餅,都馱在驢上,
And Abigayil made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
19 對僕人說:「你們前頭走,我隨着你們去。」這事她卻沒有告訴丈夫拿八。
And she said unto her young men, Pass on before me: behold, I come after you. But to her husband Nabal she told nothing.
20 亞比該騎着驢,正下山坡,見大衛和跟隨他的人從對面下來,亞比該就迎接他們。
And it was so, as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the mount, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.
21 大衛曾說:「我在曠野為那人看守所有的,以致他一樣不失落,實在是徒然了!他向我以惡報善。
Now David had said, Yea, for naught only have I guarded all that belongeth to this fellow in the wilderness, so that not the least was missed of all that pertained unto him; and he hath requited me evil instead of good.
22 凡屬拿八的男丁,我若留一個到明日早晨,願上帝重重降罰與我!」
So may God do unto the enemies of David, and do so yet farther, if I leave of all that pertaineth to him by the morning light, as much as a dog.
23 亞比該見大衛,便急忙下驢,在大衛面前臉伏於地叩拜,
And when Abigayil saw David, she hastened, and alighted off the ass, and fell down before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.
24 俯伏在大衛的腳前,說:「我主啊,願這罪歸我!求你容婢女向你進言,更求你聽婢女的話。
And she fell at his feet, and said, On me, me, my lord, is the fault: and let thy hand-maid, I pray thee, speak in thy hearing, and listen to the words of thy hand-maid.
25 我主不要理這壞人拿八,他的性情與他的名相稱;他名叫拿八,他為人果然愚頑。但我主所打發的僕人,婢女並沒有看見。
Let not my Lord, I pray thee, turn his heart unto this worthless man, unto Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and meanness is with him; but I thy hand-maid did not see the young men of my Lord, whom thou didst send.
26 我主啊,耶和華既然阻止你親手報仇,取流血的罪,所以我指着永生的耶和華、又敢在你面前起誓說:『願你的仇敵和謀害你的人都像拿八一樣。』
And now, my lord, as the Eternal liveth, and as thy soul liveth, it is the Lord who hath withholden thee from coming to blood-guiltiness, and from helping thyself with thy own hand; and now may like Nabal be thy enemies, and those that seek [to do] my Lord evil.
And now this present which thy hand-maid hath brought unto my Lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow in the train my Lord.
28 求你饒恕婢女的罪過。耶和華必為我主建立堅固的家,因我主為耶和華爭戰;並且在你平生的日子查不出有甚麼過來。
Pardon, I pray thee, the trespass of thy hand-maid; for the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house; because the battles of the Lord doth my lord fight, and evil will not be found in thee all thy days.
29 雖有人起來追逼你,尋索你的性命,你的性命卻在耶和華-你的上帝那裏蒙保護,如包裹寶器一樣;你仇敵的性命,耶和華必拋去,如用機弦甩石一樣。
And though a man is risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: yet will the soul of my Lord be bound in the bond of life with the Lord thy God; and the soul of thy enemies will he hurl away, as out of the middle of the sling.
30 我主現在若不親手報仇流無辜人的血,到了耶和華照所應許你的話賜福與你,立你作以色列的王,那時我主必不致心裏不安,覺得良心有虧。耶和華賜福與我主的時候,求你記念婢女。」
And it shall come to pass, when the Lord will do to my lord, in accordance with all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and will ordain thee as ruler over Israel,
That this shall not be unto thee as a cause of offense and as a reproach of heart unto my lord, both by having shed blood without cause, and by my lord having righted himself; and when the Lord will do good unto my lord, then do thou remember thy hand-maid.
32 大衛對亞比該說:「耶和華-以色列的上帝是應當稱頌的,因為他今日使你來迎接我。
And David said to Abigayil, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me;
33 你和你的見識也當稱讚;因為你今日攔阻我親手報仇、流人的血。
And blessed be thy intelligence, and blessed be thou, who hast prevented me this day from coming unto blood-guiltiness, and from helping myself with my own hand.
34 我指着阻止我加害於你的耶和華-以色列永生的上帝起誓,你若不速速地來迎接我,到明日早晨,凡屬拿八的男丁必定不留一個。」
But truly, as the Lord the God of Israel liveth, who hath withdrawn me from injuring thee, except thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left unto Nabal by the morning-light so much as a dog.
35 大衛受了亞比該送來的禮物,就對她說:「我聽了你的話,准了你的情面,你可以平平安安地回家吧!」
And David took out of her hand that which she had brought him; and unto her he said, Go up in peace to thy house: see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have respected thy presence.
36 亞比該到拿八那裏,見他在家裏設擺筵席,如同王的筵席;拿八快樂大醉。亞比該無論大小事都沒有告訴他,就等到次日早晨。
And Abigayil came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, and he was exceedingly drunken; wherefore she told him not a word, either little or great, until the morning-light.
37 到了早晨,拿八醒了酒,他的妻將這些事都告訴他,他就魂不附體,身僵如石頭一般。
But it happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
And it came to pass in about ten days thereafter, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39 大衛聽見拿八死了,就說:「應當稱頌耶和華,因他伸了拿八羞辱我的冤,又阻止僕人行惡;也使拿八的惡歸到拿八的頭上。」於是大衛打發人去,與亞比該說,要娶她為妻。
And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath withheld his servant from evil; and the wickedness of Nabal hath the Lord returned upon his own head. And David sent and applied for Abigayil, to take her to himself for wife.
40 大衛的僕人到了迦密見亞比該,對她說:「大衛打發我們來見你,想要娶你為妻。」
And the servants of David came to Abigayil to Carmel, and they spoke unto her, saying, David hath sent us unto thee, to take thee to himself for wife.
41 亞比該就起來,俯伏在地,說:「我情願作婢女,洗我主僕人的腳。」
Thereupon she arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thy hand-maid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 亞比該立刻起身,騎上驢,帶着五個使女,跟從大衛的使者去了,就作了大衛的妻。
And Abigayil hastened, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with her five damsels that went in her train; and she went after the messengers of David, and she became his wife.
43 大衛先娶了耶斯列人亞希暖,她們二人都作了他的妻。
David also took Achino'am of Yizre'el; and both of them became thus his wives.
44 掃羅已將他的女兒米甲,就是大衛的妻,給了迦琳人拉億的兒子帕提為妻。
But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti, the son of Layish, who was of Gallim.