1 Samuel 25

1 Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Maon.

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.

2 There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

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.

3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; and the man was a Calebite.

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.

4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.

5 So David sent ten young men, and said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.

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;

6 Thus you are to say to my brother, 'Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

And say this to my brother, May all be well for you: peace be to you and your house and all you have.

7 And now, look, I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us in the wilderness, and we did not hurt them, neither was there anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel.

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.

8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David.'"

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.

9 So the young men came and spoke to Nabal according to all those words on David's behalf, but he behaved arrogantly.

And when David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David's name, and said nothing more.

10 Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days.

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.

11 Shall I then take my bread, and my wine, and my meat that I have slaughtered for the shearers of my sheep, and give it to men who I do not know where they come from?"

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?

12 So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words.

So David's young men, turning away, went back and gave him an account of everything he had said.

13 David said to his men, "Every man put on his sword." So every man put on his sword. David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David; and two hundred stayed by the baggage.

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.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Look, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master; and he railed at them.

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.

15 But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields.

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:

16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep.

17 Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can't speak to him."

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.

18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.

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.

19 She said to her young men, "Go on before me. Look, I come after you." But she did not tell her husband.

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.

20 It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that look, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

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.

21 Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good.

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.

22 God do so to David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall."

May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and got off from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground at his feet.

And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him.

24 And she said, "On me, my lord, be the guilt; and please let your servant speak to you directly, and hear the words of your servant.

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.

25 Please do not let my lord regard this worthless fellow, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom you sent.

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.

26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

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.

27 Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.

28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD; and evil shall not be found in you all your days.

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.

29 Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling.

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.

30 It shall come to pass, when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel,

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;

31 that this will have no cause of grief or a troubled conscience for my lord, that blood was shed without cause and that my lord has gained victory by his own hand. And when the LORD has done well with my lord, then remember your servant."

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.

32 David said to Abigail, "Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me.

And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today:

33 Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

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.

34 For indeed, as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall."

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.

35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, "Go up in peace to your house. Look, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request."

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.

36 Abigail came to Nabal; and look, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

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.

37 It happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

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.

38 It happened about ten days after, that the LORD struck Nabal, so that he died.

And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him.

39 And David heard, and he said, "Blessed is the LORD, who has taken my side in the matter of Nabal's insult, and has kept back his servant from evil. The LORD has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head." David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife.

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.

40 When the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you, to take you to be his wife."

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.

41 She got up and bowed herself with her face to the ground, and said, "Look, your servant is a lowly servant to wash the feet of your servants. "

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.

42 Then Abigail got up quickly and rode on a donkey, and with five female servants following her; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.

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.

43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they both became his wives.

And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives.

44 Now Saul had given Mikal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.