< 1 Samuel 25 >
1 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.
And Samuel died, and all Israel assembled, and bewailed him, and they bury him in his house in Armathaim: and David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Maon.
2 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.
And there was a man in Maon, and his flocks were in Carmel, and [he was] a very great man; and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand she-goats: and he happened to be shearing his flock in Carmel.
3 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.
And the man's name [was] Nabal, and his wife's name [was] Abigaia: and his wife [was] of good understanding and very beautiful in person: but the man [was] harsh, and evil in his doings, and the man [was] churlish.
4 David was in the wilderness, and he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.
And David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal the Carmelite was shearing his sheep.
5 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.
And David sent ten young men, and he said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name how he is.
6 Tell him, ‘I wish you a long life! Peace to you and your family, and may everything you do prosper.
And thus shall you say, May you and your house seasonably prosper, and all your be in prosperity.
7 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.
And now, behold, I have heard that your shepherds who were with is in the wilderness are shearing your sheep, and we hindered them not, neither did we demand any thing from them all the time they were in Carmel.
8 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.’”
Ask your servants, and they will tell you. Let then your servants find grace in your eyes, for we are come on a good day; give we pray you, whatever your hand may find, to your son David.
9 David's young men arrived, gave Nabal this message from David, and waited for his reply.
So the servants come and speak these words to Nabal, according to all these words in the name of David.
10 “Who does this ‘David, son of Jesse’ think he is?” Nabal replied. “Nowadays there are many servants on the run from their masters!
And Nabal sprang up, and answered the servants of David, and said, Who [is] David? and who [is] the son of Jessae? Now-a-days there is abundance of servants who depart every one from his master.
11 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!”
And shall I take my bread, and my wine, and my beasts that I have slain for my shearers, and shall I give them to men of whom I know not whence they are?
12 So David's men turned around and went back the way they came. When they got back they told David everything Nabal had said.
So the servants of David turned back, and returned, and came and reported to David according to these words.
13 “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.
And David said to his men, Gird on every man his sword. And they went up after David, about four hundred men: and two hundred abode with the stuff.
14 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.
And one of the servants reported to Abigaia the wife of Nabal, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our lord; but he turned away from them.
15 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.
And the men were very good to us; they did not hinder us, neither did they demand from us any thing all the days that we were with them.
16 They were like a protective wall to us, both day and night, during the whole time we were with them looking after the sheep.
And when we were in the field, they were as a wall round about us, both by night and by day, all the days that we were with them feeding the flock.
17 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!”
And now do you consider, and see what you will do; for mischief is determined against our lord and against his house; and he [is] a vile character, and one can’t speak to him.
18 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.
And Abigaia hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five ephahs of fine flour, and one homer of dried grapes, and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them upon asses.
19 She told her men, “Go on ahead. I'll follow you.” But she didn't say anything to her husband Nabal.
And she said to her servants, Go on before me, and behold I come after you: but she told not her husband.
20 As Abigail was riding her donkey through a mountain valley, she saw David and his men descending towards her, and she met them.
And it came to pass when she had mounted her ass and was going down by the covert of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down to meet her, and she met them.
21 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!
And David said, Perhaps I have kept all his possessions in the wilderness that he should wrong me, and we did not order the taking anything of all his goods; yet he has rewarded me evil for good.
22 May God punish me very severely if I leave even a single one of his men alive by morning!”
So God do to David and more also, if I leave one male of all that belong to Nabal until the morning.
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, and bowed before him, her face to the ground.
And Abigaia saw David, and she hasted and alighted from her ass; and she felt before David on her face, and did obeisance to him, [bowing] to the ground
24 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.
[even] to his feet, and said, On me, my lord, be my wrong: let, I pray you, your servant speak in your ears, and hear you the words of your servant.
25 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.
Let not my lord, I pray you, take to heart this pestilent man, for according to his name, so is he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I your handmaid saw not the servants of my lord whom you did send.
26 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.
And now, my lord, [as] the Lord lives, and your soul lives, as the Lord has kept you from coming against innocent blood, and from executing vengeance for yourself, now therefore let your enemies, and those that seek evil against my lord, become as Nabal.
27 Please accept this present that I, your servant, have brought to you, sir, and give it to your men.
And now accept this token of goodwill, which your servant has brought to my lord, and you shall give it to the servants that wait on my lord.
28 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.
Remove, I pray you, the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will surely make for my lord a sure house, for the Lord fights the battles of my lord, and there shall no evil be ever found in you.
29 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.
And [if] a man shall rise up persecuting you and seeking your life, yet shall the life of my lord be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord God, and you shall whirl the life of your enemies [as] in the midst of a sling.
30 So when the Lord has done for you, sir, everything good he promised, and has made you ruler over Israel,
And it shall be when the Lord shall have wrought for my lord all the good things he has spoken concerning you, and shall appoint you to be ruler over Israel;
31 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.”
then this shall not be an abomination and offence to my lord, to have shed innocent blood without cause, and for my lord to have avenged himself: and so may the Lord do good to my lord, and you shall remember your handmaid to do her good.
32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!
And David said to Abigaia, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this very day to meet me:
33 May you be rewarded for your wise decisions, for preventing me from shedding blood today and taking my own revenge.
and blessed [be] your conduct, and blessed [be] you, who have hindered me this very day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself.
34 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.”
But surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who hindered me this day from doing you harm, if you had not hasted and come to meet me, then I said, There shall [surely] not be left to Nabal till the morning one male.
35 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.”
And David took of her hand all that she brought to him, and said to her, Go in peace to your house: see, I have listened to your voice, and accepted your petition.
36 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.
And Abigaia came to Nabal: and, behold, he had a banquet in this house, as the banquet of a king, and the heart of Nabal [was] merry within him, and he [was] very drunken: and she told him nothing great or small till the morning light.
37 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.
And it came to pass in the morning, when Nabal recovered from his wine, his wife told him these words; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38 About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.
And it came to pass after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39 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.
And David heard it and said, Blessed [be] the Lord, who has judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and has delivered his servant from the power of evil; and the Lord has returned the mischief of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and spoke concerning Abigaia, to take her to himself for a wife.
40 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.”
So the servants of David came to Abigaia to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you, to take you to himself for a wife.
41 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.”
And she arose, and did reverence with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, your servant [is] for an handmaid to wash the feet of your servants.
42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, with her five female servants, went back with David's men and became his wife.
And Abigaia arose, and mounted her ass, and five damsels followed her: and she went after the servants of David, and became his wife.
43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So they both were his wives.
And David took Achinaam out of Jezrael, and they were both his wives.
44 However, Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Paltiel, son of Laish. He was from Gallim.
And Saul gave Melchol his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Amis who was of Romma.