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.

And Samuel died, and all Israel were gathered together, and made lamentation for him, and buried him within his own house, in Ramah, —and David arose and went down into the wilderness of Maon.

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 cattle were in Carmel, and, the man, was exceeding great, and, he, had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats, —and so it was, that he was shearing his sheep 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.

Now, the name of the man, was Nabal, and, the name of his wife, Abigail, —and, the woman, was of good understanding, and of beautiful figure, —but, the man, was unfeeling and of evil practices, and he was a Calebite.

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

So then David heard in the wilderness, —that Nabal was shearing his 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;

David, therefore, sent ten young men, —and David said unto the young men, —Go up to Carmel, and enter in unto Nabal, and ye shall ask him, in my name, of his welfare;

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 thus—Long life to thee! Mayest, thou, prosper, And, thy household, prosper, And, all that thou hast, prosper!

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, therefore, have I heard that thou hast shearers, —Well, the shepherds that thou hast, have been with us, we reproached them not, neither missed they, anything, all the days 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 thy young men, that they may tell thee, that so my young men may find favour in thine eyes, for, on a good day, have we come! Give, I pray thee, what thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David!

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

So David’s young men came, and spake unto Nabal, according to all these words, in the name of David, —and 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.

Then Nabal answered the servants of David, and said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Nowadays, many are the servants that have broken away, every one from the presence of his lord:

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?

Shall I, then, take my bread, and my wine, and my slain beasts, that I have slaughtered for my shearers, —and give unto men of whom I know not whence they are?

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

So the young men of David turned away for their journey, —and came back, and drew near, and told him, according to 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.

Then said David unto his men—Gird on you every man his sword. And they girded on them, 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 stores.

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.

But a certain one of her young men told, Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, —Lo! David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he treated them with contempt.

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:

But, the men, were exceeding good to us, —and we were not harmed, neither missed we, anything, all the days we went to and fro with them, while we were in the fields:

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

A wall, became they unto us, both by night and by day, all the days we were with them, tending the flock.

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, therefore, know thou, and see, what thou canst do, for mischief is determined against our lord, and against all his household, —but, he, is such an abandoned man, that one cannot speak unto 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 hastened—and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep made ready, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred cakes of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, —and put them on the asses.

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 she said to her young men—Pass on before me, behold me coming after you; but, to her husband, Nabal, told she nothing.

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.

And so it was, as she was riding on her ass, and descending within the covert of the hill, lo! David and his men, descending over against her, —so 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 said—Surely, in vain, did I guard all that pertained to this man in the wilderness, so that there was, nothing, missed of all that he had, —seeing he hath returned to me 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.

So may God do to David and so may he add, if I leave remaining, of all that he hath, until the morning, —so much as a little boy.

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

And, when Abigail saw David, she hastened, and alighted from off her ass, —and fell down before David upon her face, and prostrated herself on the ground;

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.

yea she fell at his feet, and said—On me, even me, my lord, be the transgression, —But, I pray thee, let thy handmaid speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid.

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.

Let it not be, I pray thee, that my lord regard this abandoned man—Nabal ["Base"]; For, as his name is, so, is he. Nabal, is his name, and, baseness, is with him, —But, I, thy handmaid, saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

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, therefore, my lord—By the life of Yahweh, and by the life of thine own soul, —seeing Yahweh hath withholden thee from coming in with bloodshed, and from saving thyself, with thine own hand, now, therefore, like Nabal, be thine enemies, and they who are making search for my lord, wrongfully.

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

Now, therefore, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord, let it even be given unto the young men who are going to and fro at the feet of my lord.

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.

Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid, —for Yahweh, will certainly make, for my lord an assured house, for, the battles of Yahweh, is my lord fighting, and, wrong, shall not be found in thee, all thy days;

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.

yea, though there hath arisen a sun of earth to pursue thee, and to seek thy life, yet shall the life of my lord be bound up in the bundle of the living, with Yahweh thy God, but, as for the life of thine enemies, he shall sling it out with the middle of the hollow of the 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;

And it shall be, when Yahweh shall do for my lord, according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, —and shall put thee in charge as leader 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 shall this not become to thee a staggering and stumbling of heart, unto my lord—that thou didst either shed blood without need, or that the hand of my lord saved himself. And, when Yahweh hath dealt well with my lord, then remember thou thy handmaid.

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

Then said David unto Abigail, —Blessed, be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day, to meet me;

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.

and, blessed, be thy discreet judgment, and, blessed, be thou thyself, —who hast kept me, this day, from coming in with bloodshed, and from saving myself, with mine 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.

Nevertheless, by the life of Yahweh, God of Israel, who hath restrained me from harming, thee, surely, except thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, there had not been left unto Nabal, by the light of the morning, so much as a little boy.

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.

So David received at her hand, that which she had brought him, —and, unto herself, he said—Go up, in peace, unto thy house, see! I have hearkened unto thy voice, and accepted thy person.

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.

And, when Abigail came unto Nabal, lo! he, had a banquet in his house, like the banquet of a king, and, the heart of Nabal, was glad accordingly, he having drunk deeply, —so she told him nothing—less or more, until the light of the morning.

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.

And it came to pass, in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, and his wife told him these things, that his heart died 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.

And it came to pass, in about ten days, that Yahweh smote Nabal, that he died.

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.

And, when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said—Blessed, be Yahweh, who hath maintained the plea of my reproach, at the hand of Nabal, and hath restrained, his servant, from wrong, yea, the wrong of Nabal, hath Yahweh turned back on his own head. Then sent David, and spake with Abigail, to take her to himself wife.

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.

And the servants of David came unto Abigail the Carmelitess, —and spake unto her, saying, David, hath sent us unto thee, to take thee to himself to 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.

And she arose, and bowed herself down with her face to the earth, —and said—Lo! thy handmaid, as serving-woman to bathe the feet of the servants of my lord.

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.

And Abigail hastened, and mounted, and rode upon her ass, with her five damsels that used to journey at her feet, —and she went her way after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

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

David took, Ahinoam also, out of Jezreel, —and, they two, became his wives.

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

Saul, indeed, had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, —to Palti, sun of Laish, who was of Gallim.