1 Samuel 25
1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites assembled, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
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 And [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.
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 Abigail: and [she was] a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man [was] churlish and evil in his doings; 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 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 And David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
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 thus shall ye say to him that liveth [in prosperity], Peace [be] both to thee, and peace [be] to thy house, and peace [be] 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 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missing to them, all the while they were 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 young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor in thy eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatever cometh to thy hand, 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 young men came, they spoke to Nabal in the name of David, according to all these words, and ceased.
David's young men arrived, gave Nabal this message from David, and waited for his reply.
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who [is] David? and who [is] the son of Jesse? there are many servants in these days that break away every man from his master.
“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 my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] 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 David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all these sayings.
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 And David said to his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the goods.
“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 young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed at 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 But the men [were] very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
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 to 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 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do: for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot 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 bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid [them] on 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 on before me; behold, I come 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 it was [so], [as] she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and behold, 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 (Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this [man] hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that [pertained] to him: and he hath requited 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 So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that [pertain] to him by the morning light any male person.)
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 hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.
When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, and bowed before him, her face to the ground.
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, [upon] me [let this] iniquity [be]: and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thy audience, and hear the words of thy handmaid.
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, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, [even] Nabal; for as his name [is], so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
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, [as] the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withheld thee from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging thyself with thy own hand, now let thy enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
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 And now this blessing which thy handmaid hath brought to my lord, let it even be given to the young men that follow my lord.
Please accept this present that I, your servant, have brought to you, sir, and give it to your men.
28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thy handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee [all] thy days.
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 Yet a man hath risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thy enemies, them shall he sling out, [as from] the middle 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 it will come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
So when the Lord has done for you, sir, everything good he promised, and has made you ruler over Israel,
31 That this will be no grief to thee, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then 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 God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me:
Then David said to Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!
33 And blessed [be] thy advice, and blessed [be] thou, who hast kept me this day from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging myself 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 For in very deed, [as] the LORD God of Israel liveth, who hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any male person.
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 So David received from her hand [that] which she had brought him, and said to her, Return in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
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 held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart [was] merry within him, for he [was] very drunken: Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
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 it came to pass in the morning, when the wine had left Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that 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 it came to pass about ten days [after], that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed [be] the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to 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 when the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to him 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 on [her] face to the earth, and said, Behold, [let] thy handmaid [be] a servant 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 hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after 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 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.
David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So they both were his wives.
44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who [was] of Gallim.
However, Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Paltiel, son of Laish. He was from Gallim.
