1 Samuel 25

1 And death came to Samuel; and all Israel came together, weeping for him, and put his body in its resting-place in his house at Ramah. Then David went down to the waste land of Maon.

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.

2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel.

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.

3 Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb.

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.

4 And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.

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

5 And David sent ten young men, and said to them, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and say kind words to him in my name;

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

6 And say this to my brother, May all be well for you: peace be to you and your house and all you have.

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

7 I have had word that you have wool-cutters: now the keepers of your sheep have been with us, and we have done them no evil, and taken nothing of theirs while they were in Carmel.

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.

8 If your young men are questioned they will say the same thing. So now, let my young men have grace in your eyes, for we are come at a good time; please give anything you may have by you to your servants and to your son David.

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.’”

9 And when David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David's name, and said nothing more.

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

10 And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters.

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

11 Am I to take my bread and my wine and the meat I have got ready for my wool-cutters and give it to men coming from I have no idea where?

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?”

12 So David's young men, turning away, went back and gave him an account of everything he had said.

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

13 And David said to his men, Put on your swords, every one of you. And every man put on his sword; and David did the same; and about four hundred men went up with David, and two hundred kept watch over their goods.

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.

14 But one of the young men said to Nabal's wife Abigail, David sent men from the waste land to say kind words to our master, and he gave them a rough answer.

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.

15 But these men have been very good to us; they did us no wrong and nothing of ours was touched while we were with them in the fields:

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.

16 But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep.

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

17 So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him.

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!”

18 Then Abigail quickly took two hundred cakes of bread and two skins full of wine and five sheep ready for cooking and five measures of dry grain and a hundred parcels of dry grapes and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them on asses.

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

19 And she said to her young men, Go on in front of me and I will come after you. But she said nothing to her husband Nabal.

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

20 Now while she was going down under cover of the mountain on her ass, David and his men came down against her, and suddenly she came face to face with them.

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

21 Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good.

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.

22 May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.

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

23 And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him.

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

24 And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant.

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.

25 Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent.

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.

26 So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal.

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.

27 And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.

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

28 And may the sin of your servant have forgiveness: for the Lord will certainly make your family strong, because my lord is fighting in the Lord's war; and no evil will be seen in you all your days.

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.

29 And though a man has taken up arms against you, putting your life in danger, still the soul of my lord will be kept safe among the band of the living with the Lord your God; and the souls of those who are against you he will send violently away from him, like stones from a bag.

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.

30 And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel;

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

31 Then you will have no cause for grief, and my lord's heart will not be troubled because you have taken life without cause and have yourself given punishment for your wrongs: and when the Lord has been good to you, then give a thought to your servant.

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.”

32 And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today:

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

33 A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs.

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

34 For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal's house so much as one male living.

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.”

35 Then David took from her hands her offering: and he said to her, Go back to your house in peace; see, I have given ear to your voice, and taken your offering with respect.

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.”

36 And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came.

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.

37 And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal's wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone.

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.

38 And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him.

About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

39 And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife.

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.

40 And when David's servants came to Carmel, to Abigail, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.

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

41 And she got up, and going down on her face to the earth, said, See, I am ready to be a servant-girl, washing the feet of the servants of my lord.

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

42 Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife.

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

43 And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives.

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

44 Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.

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