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.
Forsothe Samuel was deed; and al Israel was gaderid to gidere, and thei biweiliden hym greetly, and birieden hym in his hows in Ramatha. And Dauid roos, and yede doun in to deseert of Faran.
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.
Forsothe a `man was in Maon, and his possessioun was in Carmele, and thilke man was ful greet, and thre thousynde scheep and a thousynde geet `weren to hym; and it bifelde that his flocke was clippid in Carmele.
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.
Forsothe the name of that man was Nabal, and the name of his wijf was Abigail; and thilke womman was moost prudent and fair; forsothe hir hosebond was hard and ful wickid and malicious; sotheli he was of the kyn of Caleph.
4 And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.
Therfor whanne Dauid hadde herde in deseert, that Nabal clippide his floc,
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;
he sente ten yonge men, and seide to hem, Stie ye in to Carmele, and ye schulen come to Nabal, and ye schulen grete hym of my name pesibli;
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 ye schulen seie thus, Pees be to my britheren and to thee, and pees be to thin hows, and pees be to alle thingis, `what euer thingis thou hast.
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.
Y herde that thi scheepherdis, that weren with vs in deseert, clippiden thi flockis; we weren neuere diseseful to hem, nether ony tyme ony thing of the floc failide to hem, in al time in which thei weren with vs in Carmele;
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.
axe thi children, and thei schulen schewe to thee. Now therfor thi children fynde grace in thin iyen; for in a good dai we camen to thee; what euer thing thin hond fyndith, yyue to thi seruauntis, and to thi sone Dauid.
9 And when David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David's name, and said nothing more.
And whanne the children of Dauid hadden come, thei spaken to Nabal alle these wordis in the name of Dauid, and helden pees.
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.
Forsoth Nabal answeride to the children of Dauid, and seide, Who is Dauith? and who is the sone of Isai? To dai seruauntis encreesiden that fleen her lords.
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?
Therfor schal Y take my looues and my watris, and the fleischis of beestis, whiche Y haue slayn to my schereris, and schal Y yyue to men, whiche Y knowe not of whennus thei ben?
12 So David's young men, turning away, went back and gave him an account of everything he had said.
Therfor the children of Dauid yeden ayen bi her weie; and thei turneden ayen, and camen, and telden to hym alle wordis whiche Nabal hadde seid.
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.
Thanne Dauid seide to hise children, Ech man be gird with his swerd. And alle men weren gird with her swerdis, and Dauid also was gird with his swerd; and as foure hundrid men sueden Dauid, forsothe two hundrid leften at the fardels.
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.
Forsothe oon of hise children telde to Abigail, wijf of Nabal, and seide, Lo! Dauid sente messangeris fro deseert, that thei schulden blesse oure lord, and he turnede hem awey;
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:
these men weren good ynow, and not diseseful to vs, and no thing perischide `in ony tyme in al the tyme in which we lyueden with hem in deseert;
16 But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep.
thei weren to vs for a wal, bothe in niyt and in dai, in alle daies in whiche we lesewiden flockis at hem.
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.
Wherfor biholde thou, and thenke, what thou schalt do; for malice is fillid ayens thin hosebonde, and ayens `thin hows; and he is the sone of Belial, so that no man may speke 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.
Therfor Abigail hastide, and took two hundrid looues, and two vessels of wyn, and fyue whetheris sodun, and seuene buyschelis and an half of flour, and an hundrid bundles of dried grape, and two hundrid gobetis of dried figus; and puttide on assis,
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 seide to hir children, Go ye bifor me; lo! Y schal sue you `aftir the bak. Forsothe sche schewide not to hir hosebonde 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.
Therfor whanne sche hadde stied on the asse, and cam doun `at the roote of the hil, and Dauid and hise men camen doun in to the comyng `of hir; whiche also sche mette.
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.
And Dauid seide, Verili in veyn Y haue kept alle thingis that weren of this Nabal in the deseert, and no thing perischide of alle thingis that perteyneden to hym, and he hath yolde to me yuel 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.
The Lord do these thingis, and adde these thingis to the enemyes of Dauid, if Y schal leeue of alle thingis that perteynen to him til the morewe a pisser to the wal.
23 And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him.
Sotheli whanne Abigail siy Dauid, sche hastide, and yede doun of the asse; and sche fel doun bifor Dauid on hir face, and worschipide on the erthe.
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.
And sche felde doun to hise feet, and seide, My lord the kyng, this wickydnesse be in me; Y biseche, speke thin handmayden in thin eeris, and here thou the wordis of thi seruauntesse;
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.
Y preie, my lord the kyng, sette not his herte on this wickid man Nabal, for bi his name he is a fool, and foli is with hym; but, my lord, Y thin handmayde siy not thi children, whiche thou sentist.
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 therfor, my lord, the Lord lyueth, and thi soule lyueth, which Lord forbeed thee, lest thou schuldist come in to blood, and he sauede thi soule to thee; and now thin enemyes, and thei that seken yuel to my lord, be maad as Nabal.
27 And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.
Wherfor resseyue thou this blessyng, which thin handmaide brouyte to thee, my lord, and yyue thou to the children that suen thee, 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.
Do thou awey the wickidnesse of thi seruauntesse; for the Lord makynge schal make a feithful hows to thee, my lord, for thou, my lord, fiytist the batels of the Lord; therfor malice be not foundun in thee in alle dais of thi lijf.
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.
For if a man risith ony tyme, and pursueth thee, and sekith thi lijf, the lijf of my lord schal be kept as in a bundel of lyuynge trees, at thi Lord God; forsothe the soule of thin enemyes schal be hurlid round aboute as in feersnesse, and sercle of a slynge.
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;
Therfor whanne the Lord hath do to thee, my lord, alle these goode thingis, whiche he spak of thee, and hath ordeyned thee duyk on 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.
this schal not be in to siyyng and in to doute of herte to thee, my lord, that thou hast sched out giltles blood, ether that thou hast vengid thee. And whanne the Lord hath do wel to thee, my lord, thou schalt haue mynde on thin handmaide, and thou schalt do wel to hir.
32 And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today:
And Dauid seide to Abigail, Blessid be the Lord God of Israel, that sente thee to dai in to my comyng, and blessid be thi speche;
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 blessid be thou, that hast forbede me, lest Y yede to blood, and vengide me with myn hond;
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.
ellis the Lord God of Israel lyueth, which forbeed me, `lest Y dide yuel to thee, if thou haddist not soone come in to `metyng to me, a pissere to the wal schulde not haue left to Nabal til to the morewe liyt.
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.
Therfor Dauid resseyuede of hir hond alle thingis whiche sche hadde brouyt to hym; and he seide to hir, Go thou in pees in to thin hows; lo! Y herde thi vois, and Y onouride thi face.
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.
Forsothe Abigail cam to Nabal; and, lo! a feeste was to him in his hows, as the feeste of a kyng; and the herte of Nabal was iocounde, for he was `drunkun greetli; and sche schewide not to hym a word litil ether greet til the morewe.
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.
Forsothe in the morewtid, whanne Nabal hadde defied the wiyn, his wijf schewide to hym alle these wordis; and his herte was almest deed with ynne, and he was maad as a stoon.
38 And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him.
And whanne ten daies hadden passid, the Lord smoot Nabal, and he was deed.
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.
Which thing whanne Dauid hadde herd, Nabal deed, he seide, Blessid be the Lord God, that vengide the cause of my schenschip of the hond of Nabal, and kepte his seruaunt fro yuel, and the Lord yeldide the malice of Nabal in to the heed of hym. Therfor Dauid sente, and spak to Abigail, that he wolde take hir wijf to hym.
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 children of Dauid camen to Abigail in to Carmele, and spaken to hir, and seiden, Dauid sente vs to thee, that he take thee in to wijf to hym.
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 sche roos, and worschipide lowe to erthe, and seide, Lo! thi seruauntesse be in to an handmayde, that sche waische the feet of the seruauntis 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 hastide, and roos, and stiede on an asse; and fyue damesels, sueris of hir feet, yeden with hir, and sche suede the messangeris of Dauid, and was maad wijf to hym.
43 And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives.
But also Dauid took Achynoem of Jezrael, and euer eithir was wijf to hym;
44 Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.
forsothe Saul yaf Mycol his douytir, wijf of Dauid, to Phalti, the sone of Lais, that was of Gallym.
