1 Samuel 25
1 Then Samuel dyed, and all Israel assembled, and mourned for him, and buried him in his owne house at Ramah. And Dauid arose and went downe to the wildernes of Paran.
Then Samuel died, and all of Israel gathered together, and they mourned him. And they buried him at his house in Ramah. And David, rising up, descended to the desert of Paran.
2 Now in Maon was a man, who had his possessio in Carmel, and the man was exceeding mightie and had three thousand sheepe, and a thousand goates: and he was shering his sheepe in Carmel.
Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were at Carmel. And this man was exceedingly great. And three thousand sheep, and one thousand goats were his. And it happened that he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.
3 The name also of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and she was a woman of singular wisdome, and beautifull, but the man was churlish, and euil conditioned, and was of the familie of Caleb.
Now the name of this man was Nabal. And the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a very prudent and beautiful woman. But her husband was hard-hearted, and very wicked, and malicious. And he was of the stock of Caleb.
4 And Dauid heard in the wildernesse, that Nabal did shere his sheepe.
Therefore, when David, in the desert, had heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep,
5 Therefore Dauid sent tenne yong men, and Dauid said vnto the yong men, Go vp to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and aske him in my name how he doeth.
he sent ten young men, and he said to them: “Ascend to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name peacefully.
6 And thus shall ye say for salutation, Both thou, and thine house, and all that thou hast, be in peace, wealth and prosperitie.
And you shall say: ‘Peace be to my brothers and to you, and peace to your house, and peace to whatever you have.
7 Behold, I haue heard, that thou hast sherers: now thy shepherds were with vs, and we did the no hurt, neyther did they misse any thing all the while they were in Carmel.
I have heard that your shepherds, who were with us in the desert, were shearing. We have never troubled them, nor was anything from the flock missing to them at any time, during the entire time that they have been with us in Carmel.
8 Aske thy seruants and they wil shew thee. Wherefore let these yong men finde fauour in thine eyes: (for we come in a good season) giue, I pray thee, whatsoeuer commeth to thine hand vnto thy seruants, and to thy sonne Dauid.
Question your servants, and they will tell you. Now therefore, may your servants find favor in your eyes. For we have arrived on a good day. Whatever your hand will find, give it to your servants and to your son David.’”
9 And when Dauids yong men came, they tolde Nabal all those wordes in the name of Dauid, and helde their peace.
And when the servants of David had arrived, they spoke to Nabal all these words in the name of David. And then they were silent.
10 Then Nabal answered Dauids seruantes, and sayd, Who is Dauid? and who is the sonne of Ishai? there be many seruantes nowe a dayes, that breake away euery man from his master.
But Nabal, responding to the servants of David, said: “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, servants who are fleeing from their lords are increasing.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I haue killed for my sherers, and giue it vnto men, whom I know not whence they be?
Therefore, shall I take my bread, and my water, and the meat of the cattle that I have slain for my shearers, and give it to men, when I do not know where they are from?”
12 So Dauids seruants turned their way, and went againe, and came, and tolde him all those things.
And so the servants of David traveled back along their way. And returning, they went and reported to him all the words that he had said.
13 And Dauid said vnto his men, Girde euery man his sword about him. And they girded euery man his sworde: Dauid also girded his sworde. And about foure hundreth men went vp after Dauid, and two hundreth abode by the cariage.
Then David said to his servants, “Let each one gird his sword.” And each one girded his sword. And David also girded his sword. And about four hundred men followed David. But two hundred remained behind with the supplies.
14 Nowe one of the seruantes tolde Abigail Nabals wife, saying, Beholde, Dauid sent messengers out of the wildernesse to salute our master, and he rayled on them.
Then it was reported to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, by one of his servants, saying: “Behold, David has sent messengers from the desert, so that they might speak kindly to our lord. But he turned them away.
15 Notwithstanding the men were very good vnto vs, and we had no displeasure, neither missed we any thing as long as we were conuersant with them, when we were in the fieldes.
These men were good enough to us, and were not troublesome. Neither did we ever lose anything, during the entire time that we conversed with them in the desert.
16 They were as a wall vnto vs both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping sheepe.
They were a wall to us, as much in the night as in the day, during all the days that we were with them, pasturing the sheep.
17 Nowe therefore take heede, and see what thou shalt doe: for euill will surely come vpon our master, and vpon all his familie: for he is so wicked that a man can not speake to him.
For this reason, consider and realize what you should do. For evil has been decided against your husband and against your house. And he is a son of Belial, so that no one is able to speak to him.”
18 Then Abigail made haste, and tooke two hundreth cakes, and two bottels of wine, and fiue sheepe ready dressed, and fiue measures of parched corne, and an hundreth frailes of raisins, and two hundreth of figs, and laded them on asses.
And so Abigail hurried, and she took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five cooked sheep, and five measures of cooked grain, and one hundred clusters of dried grapes, and two hundred masses of dried figs, and she set them upon donkeys.
19 Then she said vnto her seruants, Go ye before me: beholde, I will come after you: yet she tolde not her husband Nabal.
And she said to her servants: “Go before me. Behold, I will follow after your back.” But she did not reveal it to her husband, Nabal.
20 And as shee rode on her asse, shee came downe by a secret place of the mountaine, and beholde, Dauid and his men came downe against her, and she met them.
And when she had climbed on a donkey, and was descending to the base of the mountain, David and his men were descending to meet her. And she met them.
21 And Dauid said, In deede I haue kept all in vaine that this fellow had in the wildernesse, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained vnto him: for he hath requited me euill for good.
And David said: “Truly, in vain have I preserved all that was his in the wilderness, so that nothing perished out of all that belonged to him. And he has repaid evil to me for good.
22 So and more also doe God vnto the enemies of Dauid: for surely I will not leaue of all that he hath, by the dawning of the day, any that pisseth against the wall.
May God do these things, by the enemies of David, and may he add these other things, if I leave behind until morning, out of all that belongs to him, anything that urinates against a wall.”
23 And when Abigail sawe Dauid, she hasted and lighted off her asse, and fell before Dauid on her face, and bowed her selfe to the ground,
Then, when Abigail had seen David, she hurried and descended from the donkey. And she fell upon her face before David, and she reverenced on the ground.
24 And fel at his feete, and sayd, Oh, my lord, I haue committed the iniquitie, and I pray thee, let thine handmayde speake to thee, and heare thou the wordes of thine handmayde.
And she fell at his feet, and she said: “May this iniquity be upon me, my lord. I beg you, let your handmaid speak to your ears, and listen to the words of your servant.
25 Let not my lorde, I pray thee, regard this wicked man Nabal: for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and follie is with him: but I thine handmayde sawe not the yong men of my lord whom thou sentest.
Let not my lord, the king, I beseech you, set his heart upon this iniquitous man, Nabal. For in accord with his name, he is senseless, and foolishness is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see your servants, my lord, whom you had sent.
26 Now therefore my lord, as the Lord liueth, and as thy soule liueth (the Lord, I say, that hath withholden thee from comming to shedde blood, and that thine hand should not saue thee) so now thine enemies shall be as Nabal, and they that intend to doe my lord euill.
Now therefore, my lord, as your soul lives, and as the Lord lives, who has kept your hand to yourself, and has prevented you from coming to blood: now, let your enemies be like Nabal, and like all those who are seeking evil for my lord.
27 And now, this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought vnto my lorde, let it be giuen vnto the yong men, that follow my lord.
Because of this, accept this blessing, which your handmaid has brought to you, my lord. And give it to the young men who follow you, my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgiue the trespasse of thine handmaide: for the Lord will make my lorde a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battels of the Lord, and none euill hath bene found in thee in all thy life.
Forgive the iniquity of your handmaid. For the Lord will surely make for you, my lord, a faithful house, because you, my lord, fight the battles of the Lord. Therefore, let no evil be found in you all the days of your life.
29 Yet a man hath risen vp to persecute thee, and to seeke thy soule, but the soule of my lorde shall be bounde in the bundel of life with the Lord thy God: and the soule of thine enemies shall God cast out, as out of the middle of a sling.
For if a man, at any time, will rise up, pursuing you and seeking your life, the life of my lord will be preserved, as if in the sheave of the living, with the Lord your God. But the lives of your enemies will be spun around, as if with the force of a whirling sling.
30 And when the Lord shall haue done to my lord al the good that he hath promised thee, and shall haue made thee ruler ouer Israel,
Therefore, when the Lord will have done for you, my lord, all the good that he has spoken about you, and when he will have appointed you as leader over Israel,
31 Then shall it be no griefe vnto thee, nor offence of minde vnto my lord, that he hath not shed blood causelesse, nor that my lorde hath not preserued him selfe: and when the Lord shall haue dealt well with my lorde, remember thine handmaide.
this will not be for you a regret or a scruple of the heart, my lord, that you had shed innocent blood, or had taken revenge for yourself. And when the Lord will have done well for my lord, you shall remember your handmaid.”
32 Then Dauid said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meete me.
And David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. And blessed is your eloquence.
33 And blessed be thy counsel, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from comming to shed blood, and that mine hand hath not saued me.
And blessed are you, who prevented me today from going to blood, and from taking revenge for myself with my own hand.
34 For in deede, as the Lord God of Israel liueth, who hath kept me backe from hurting thee, except thou haddest hasted and met mee, surely there had not bene left vnto Nabal by the dawning of the day, any that pisseth against the wall.
But instead, as the Lord God of Israel lives, he has prevented me from doing evil to you. But if you had not come quickly to meet me, there would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light, anything that urinates against a wall.”
35 Then Dauid receiued of her hande that which she had brought him, and said to her, Goe vp in peace to thine house: beholde, I haue heard thy voyce, and haue graunted thy petition.
Then David received from her hand all that she had brought to him. And he said to her: “Go in peace to your own house. Behold, I have heeded your voice, and I have honored your face.”
36 So Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he made a feast in his house, like the feast of a King, and Nabals heart was merie within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore shee tolde him nothing, neither lesse nor more, vntil the morning arose.
Then Abigail went to Nabal. And behold, he was holding a feast for himself in his house, like the feast of a king. And the heart of Nabal was cheerful. For he was greatly inebriated. And she did not reveal a word to him, small or great, until morning.
37 Then in the morning when the wine was gone out of Nabal, his wife tolde him those wordes, and his heart died within him, and he was like a stone.
Then, at first light, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife revealed to him these words, and his heart died within himself, and he became like a stone.
38 And about ten dayes after, the Lord smote Nabal, that he dyed.
And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39 Now when Dauid heard, that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord that hath iudged the cause of my rebuke of ye hand of Nabal, and hath kept his seruant from euil: for the Lord hath recompensed the wickednesse of Nabal vpon his owne head. Also Dauid sent to commune with Abigail to take her to his wife.
And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: “Blessed is the Lord, who has judged the case of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and who has preserved his servant from evil. And the Lord has repaid the malice of Nabal upon his own head.” Then David sent and he spoke with Abigail, so that he might take her to himself as wife.
40 And whe the seruants of Dauid were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake vnto her, saying, Dauid sent vs to thee, to take thee to his wife.
And David’s servants went to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, so that he might take you to himself as wife.”
41 And she arose, and bowed her selfe on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmayde be a seruant to wash the feete of the seruants of my lord.
And rising up, she reverenced prone on the ground, and she said, “Behold, let your servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode vpon an asse, and her fiue maides folowed her, and she went after the messengers of Dauid, and was his wife.
And Abigail rose up and hurried, and she climbed upon a donkey, and five girls went with her, her attendants. And she followed the messengers of David, and she became his wife.
43 Dauid also tooke Ahinoam of Izreel, and they were both his wiues.
Moreover, David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel. And both of them were his wives.
44 Now Saul had giuen Michal his daughter Dauids wife to Phalti the sonne of Laish, which was of Gallim.
Then Saul gave his daughter Michal, the wife of David, to Palti, the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
