1 Samuel 25
1 And Samuel died, and all Israel was gathered together, and they mourned for him, and buried him in his house in Ramatha. And David rose and went down into the wilderness of Pharan.
Samuel died. Everyone in Israel gathered to mourn for him, and they buried him at his home in Ramah. David left and went to the Desert of Paran.
2 Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
A man from Maon was very wealthy. He had property in Carmel and owned one thousand goats and three thousand sheep. He was in Carmel shearing them.
3 Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman, but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill natured: and he was of the house of Caleb.
The man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was a wise and beautiful woman, but her husband was cruel and treated people badly. He was a descendant of Caleb.
4 And when David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep,
David was in the wilderness, and he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.
5 He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and salute him in my name with peace.
So David sent ten of his young men and told them, “Go and see Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name, and say hello from me.
6 And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou hast.
Tell him, ‘I wish you a long life! Peace to you and your family, and may everything you do prosper.
7 I heard that thy shepherds that were with us in the desert were shearing: we never molested them, neither was there ought missing to them of the flock at any time, all the while they were with us in Carmel.
Now I've heard that you are busy shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we didn't mistreat them, and nothing belonging to them was stolen all the time they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we are come in a good day, whatsoever thy hand shall find give to thy servants, and to thy son David.
Check with your men and they'll confirm it. Please be kind to my men, especially since we've come on this day of celebration. Please give whatever food you can to us and to your good friend David.’”
9 And when David’s servants came, they spoke to Nabal all these words in David’s name: and then held their peace.
David's young men arrived, gave Nabal this message from David, and waited for his reply.
10 But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who is David? and what is the son of Isai? servants are multiplied now a days who flee from their masters.
“Who does this ‘David, son of Jesse’ think he is?” Nabal replied. “Nowadays there are many servants on the run from their masters!
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the flesh of my cattle, which I have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I know not whence they are?
Why should I take the bread and water I've supplied, and the meat I've slaughtered for my shearers, and hand it over to these strangers? I don't even know where they're from!”
12 So the servants of David went back their way, and returning came and told him all the words that he said.
So David's men turned around and went back the way they came. When they got back they told David everything Nabal had said.
13 Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword: and there followed David about four hundred men: and two hundred remained with the baggage.
“Everyone, put on your swords!” David ordered. They all put on their swords, and David did too. About four hundred followed David, while two hundred remained behind to guard their gear.
14 But one of the servants told Abigail the wife of Nabal, saying: Behold David sent messengers out of the wilderness, to salute our master: and he rejected them.
In the meantime one of Nabal's men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “David sent some messengers from the wilderness to bring greetings to our master, but he only insulted them.
15 These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble: neither did we ever lose any thing all the time that we conversed with them in the desert.
David's men were always very good to us and they never mistreated us. All the time we were out in the fields with them nothing was stolen from us.
16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
They were like a protective wall to us, both day and night, during the whole time we were with them looking after the sheep.
17 Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do: for evil is determined against thy husband, and against thy house, and he is a son of Belial, so that no man can speak to him.
You should know what happened and consider what you should do about it. Disaster is about to strike our master and his whole family, but he's so obnoxious no one can talk sense into him!”
18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon asses:
Abigail quickly gathered together two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already slaughtered, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes, and then loaded everything on donkeys.
19 And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold I will follow after you: but she told not her husband Nabal.
She told her men, “Go on ahead. I'll follow you.” But she didn't say anything to her husband Nabal.
20 And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming down to the foot of the mountain, David and his men came down over against her, and she met them.
As Abigail was riding her donkey through a mountain valley, she saw David and his men descending towards her, and she met them.
21 And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this man in the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.
David had just been complaining, “So much for my protecting everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness! Nothing at all was stolen from him, and yet what does he do? Pay me back evil for good!
22 May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of David, if I leave of all that belong to him till the morning, any that pisseth against the wall.
May God punish me very severely if I leave even a single one of his men alive by morning!”
23 And when Abigail saw David she made haste and lighted off the ass, and fell before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground.
When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, and bowed before him, her face to the ground.
24 And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be, my lord: let thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears: and hear the words of thy servant.
Falling at his feet in respect, she said, “Sir, I accept full responsibility for what's happened. Please listen to what I, your servant, have to say.
25 Let not my lord the king, I pray, regard this naughty man Nabal: for according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him: but I thy handmaid did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest.
Please don't concern yourself with this worthless man Nabal. His name means ‘fool,’ and he is really foolish! As for me, your servant, I didn't even see the men you sent.
26 Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to thee: and now let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord.
Now, sir, as the Lord lives and as you live, the Lord has kept you from shedding blood and from taking your own revenge. Sir, may your enemies and those who want to do you harm be like Nabal.
27 Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.
Please accept this present that I, your servant, have brought to you, sir, and give it to your men.
28 Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord: let not evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life.
Please forgive any offense that I, your servant, have committed, for the Lord is sure to set up a dynasty for you that will last for a long time, because you, sir, fight the battles of the Lord. Wickedness should not be found in you as long as you live.
29 For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord thy God: but the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the violence and whirling of a sling.
If anyone pursues you and tries to kill you, then your life will remain bound up with those the Lord your God looks after, safe in his care. But he will throw away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.
30 And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince over Israel,
So when the Lord has done for you, sir, everything good he promised, and has made you ruler over Israel,
31 This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when the Lord shall have done well by my lord, thou shalt remember thy handmaid.
you won't have feelings of remorse or a guilty conscience over unnecessary bloodshed or of taking your own revenge. And when the Lord has done these good things for you, sir, please remember me, your maidservant.”
32 And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech:
Then David said to Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!
33 And blessed be thou, who hast kept me today, from coming to blood, and revenging me with my own hand.
May you be rewarded for your wise decisions, for preventing me from shedding blood today and taking my own revenge.
34 Otherwise as the Lord liveth the God of Israel, who hath withholden me from doing thee any evil: if thou hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
On the contrary, as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you hadn't rushed to meet me, then definitely not a single one of Nabal's men would have been left alive by dawn.”
35 And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and said to her: Go in peace into thy house, behold I have heard thy voice, and have honoured thy face.
David accepted from Abigail what she had brought him, and told her, “You may go home in peace, because I agree with your advice and grant your request.”
36 And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast in his house, like the feast of a king, and Nabal’s heart was merry: for he was very drunk: and she told him nothing less or more until morning.
When Abigail got back home to Nabal, he was in the house, partying like a king. He was feeling very merry, and he was very drunk. So she didn't tell him anything until the morning.
37 But early in the morning when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
When Nabal had sobered up the next morning, his wife told him what had happened. When he heard what she had to say he had a heart attack and was paralyzed.
38 And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.
39 And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise the Lord who has supported me against Nabal's insult and has kept me from doing evil. For the Lord made Nabal's wickedness fall back on himself.” Then David sent a message to Abigail, asking for her to marry him.
40 And David’s servants came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife.
When David's men arrived at Carmel, they said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to bring you back to become his wife.”
41 And she arose and bowed herself down with her face to the earth, and said: Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
She stood up, then bowed down low, and said, “I am David's maidservant. I am prepared to serve and to wash the feet of my master's servants.”
42 And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.
Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, with her five female servants, went back with David's men and became his wife.
43 Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they were both of them his wives.
David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So they both were his wives.
44 But Saul gave Michol his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti, the son of Lais, who was of Gallium.
However, Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Paltiel, son of Laish. He was from Gallim.
