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 dies, and all Israel is gathered, and mourns for him, and buries him in his house, in Ramah; and David rises and goes down to the wilderness of Paran.

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 is] a man in Maon, and his work [is] in Carmel; and the man [is] very great, and he has three thousand sheep and one thousand goats; and he is 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 name of the man [is] Nabal, and the name of his wife [is] Abigail, and the woman [is] of good understanding, and of beautiful form, and the man [is] hard and evil [in his] doings; and he [is] a Calebite.

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

And David hears in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock,

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 sends ten young men, and David says to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and you have come to Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare,

6 Tell him, ‘I wish you a long life! Peace to you and your family, and may everything you do prosper.

and said thus to the living: And peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have!

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, I have heard that you have shearers; now, the shepherds whom you have have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor has anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being 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 young men, and they declare [it] to you, and the young men find grace in your eyes, for we have come on a good day; please give that which your hand finds to your servants and to your son, to David.”

9 David's young men arrived, gave Nabal this message from David, and waited for his reply.

And the young men of David come in, and speak to Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David—and rest.

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 answers the servants of David and says, “Who [is] David, and who [is] the son of Jesse? Have servants been multiplied today who are each breaking away 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 have I taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given [it] to men whom I have not known where they [are] from?”

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.

And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all 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 says to his men, “Each gird on his sword”; and they each gird on his sword, and David also girds on his sword, and about four hundred men go up after David, and two hundred have remained by the vessels.

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 young man of the youths has declared [it] to Abigail wife of Nabal, saying, “Behold, David has sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flies on 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 [are] very good to us, and have not put us to shame, and we have not looked after anything all the days we have gone up and down with them, in our being in the field;

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.

they have been a wall to us both by night and by day, all the days of our being 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, know and consider what you do; for evil has been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he [is] too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.”

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 Abigail hurries, and takes two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted grain, and one hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and sets [them] on the donkeys.

19 She told her men, “Go on ahead. I'll follow you.” But she didn't say anything to her husband Nabal.

And she says to her young men, “Pass over before me; behold, I am coming after you”; and she has not declared [it] to her husband Nabal;

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 has come to pass, she is riding on the donkey and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and behold, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meets 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, “Surely in vain I have kept all that this [one] has in the wilderness, and nothing has been looked after of all that he has, and he turns back to me evil for good;

22 May God punish me very severely if I leave even a single one of his men alive by morning!”

thus God does to the enemies of David, and thus He adds, if I leave of all that he has until the morning light—of those sitting on the wall.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, and bowed before him, her face to the ground.

And Abigail sees David, and hurries and comes down from off the donkey, and falls on her face before David, and bows herself to the earth,

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.

and falls at his feet and says, “On me, my lord, the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ear, and hear the words of your handmaid.

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.

Please do not let my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name [is] so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him; and I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent;

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, YHWH lives, and your soul lives, in that YHWH has withheld you from coming in with blood, and to save your hand from yourself—now let your enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil toward my lord.

27 Please accept this present that I, your servant, have brought to you, sir, and give it to your men.

And now, this blessing which your maidservant has brought to my lord—it has been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of 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.

Please bear with the transgression of your handmaid, for YHWH certainly makes a steadfast house for my lord; for my lord has fought the battles of YHWH, and evil is not found in you [all] your days.

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 man rises to pursue you and to seek your soul, and the soul of my lord has been bound in the bundle of life with your God YHWH; as for the soul of your enemies, He slings them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.

30 So when the Lord has done for you, sir, everything good he promised, and has made you ruler over Israel,

And it has been, when YHWH does to my lord according to all the good which He has spoken concerning you, and appointed you for leader 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.”

that this is not to you for a stumbling-block, and for an offense of heart to my lord—either to shed blood for nothing, or my lord’s restraining himself; and YHWH has done good to my lord, and you have remembered your handmaid.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!

And David says to Abigail, “Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me this day,

33 May you be rewarded for your wise decisions, for preventing me from shedding blood today and taking my own revenge.

and blessed [is] your discretion, and blessed [are] you in that you have restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to 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.”

And yet, YHWH lives, God of Israel, who has kept me back from doing evil with you, for unless you had hurried, and come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal until the morning light, of those sitting on the wall.”

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 receives from her hand that which she has brought to him, and he has said to her, “Go up in peace to your house; see, I have listened to your voice, and accept your face.”

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 Abigail comes to Nabal, and behold, he has a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal [is] glad within him, and he [is] drunk to excess, and she has not declared anything to him, little or much, until 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 comes to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declares these things to him, and his heart dies within him, and he has been as a stone.

38 About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.

And it comes to pass [in] about ten days, that YHWH strikes Nabal and he dies,

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 hears that Nabal [is] dead and says, “Blessed [is] YHWH who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant has kept back from evil, and YHWH has turned back the wickedness of Nabal on his own head”; and David sends and speaks with Abigail, 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.”

And the servants of David come to Abigail at Carmel, and speak 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 rises and bows herself—face to the earth—and says, “Behold, your handmaid [is] for a maidservant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”

42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, with her five female servants, went back with David's men and became his wife.

And Abigail hurries and rises, and rides on the donkey; and [there are] five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goes after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife.

43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So they both were his wives.

And David has taken Ahinoam from Jezreel, and they are—even both of them—for wives to him;

44 However, Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Paltiel, son of Laish. He was from Gallim.

and Saul gave his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Phalti son of Laish, who [is] of Gallim.