1 Samuel 25

1 When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David set out and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.

2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

And [there is] a man in Maon, and his work [is] in Carmel; and the man [is] very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel.

3 His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

And the name of the man [is] Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman [is] of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man [is] hard and evil [in] doings; and he [is] a Calebite.

4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

And David heareth in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock,

5 So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

and David sendeth ten young men, and David saith to the young men, 'Go ye up to Carmel, and ye have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare,

6 and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and your house and to all that belongs to you.

and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast — peace!

7 Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.

8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’”

'Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.'

9 When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.

And the young men of David come in, and speak unto Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David — and rest.

10 But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

And Nabal answereth the servants of David and saith, 'Who [is] David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master;

11 Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

and I have taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given [it] to men whom I have not known whence they [are]!'

12 So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.

And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all these words.

13 And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

And David saith to his men, 'Gird ye on each his sword;' and they gird on each his sword, and David also girdeth on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels.

14 Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scolded them.

And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, 'Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them;

15 Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.

and the men [are] very good to us, and have not put us to shame, and we have not looked after anything all the days we have gone up and down with them, in our being in the field;

16 They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.

a wall they have been unto us both by night and by day, all the days of our being with them, feeding the flock.

17 Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”

'And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he [is] too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'

18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys

And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth [them] on the asses.

19 and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

And she saith to her young men, 'Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared [it];

20 As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them.

21 Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good.

And David said, 'Only, in vain I have kept all that this [one] hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;

22 May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”

thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning — of those sitting on the wall.'

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.

And Abigail seeth David, and hasteth and cometh down from off the ass, and falleth before David on her face, and boweth herself to the earth,

24 She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.

and falleth at his feet and saith, 'On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray thee, thy handmaid speak in thine ear, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

25 My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

'Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name [is] so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send;

26 Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

and now, my lord, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Jehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee — now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.

27 Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

'And, now, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord — it hath been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord.

28 Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

'Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee [all] thy days.

29 And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.

30 When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,

'And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel,

31 then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your maidservant.”

that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord — either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.'

32 Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!

And David saith to Abigail, 'Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me,

33 Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

and blessed [is] thy discretion, and blessed [art] thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself.

34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.'

35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

And David receiveth from her hand that which she hath brought to him, and to her he hath said, 'Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accept thy face.'

36 When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal [is] glad within him, and he [is] drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning.

37 In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone.

And it cometh to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declareth to him these things, and his heart dieth within him, and he hath been as a stone.

38 About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

And it cometh to pass, [in] about ten days, that Jehovah smiteth Nabal, and he dieth,

39 On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage.

and David heareth that Nabal [is] dead, and saith, 'Blessed [is] Jehovah who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant hath kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal hath Jehovah turned back on his own head;' and David sendeth and speaketh with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife.

40 When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

And the servants of David come in unto Abigail at Carmel, and speak unto her, saying, 'David hath sent us unto thee to take thee to him for a wife.'

41 She arose, then bowed facedown and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

And she riseth and boweth herself — face to the earth — and saith, 'Lo, thy handmaid [is] for a maid-servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.'

42 So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

And Abigail hasteth and riseth, and rideth on the ass; and five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goeth after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife.

43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

And Ahinoam hath David taken from Jezreel, and they are — even both of them — to him for wives;

44 But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

and Saul gave Michal his daughter, wife to David, to Phalti son of Laish, who [is] of Gallim.