1 Samuel 25

1 And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.

[Soon after that], Samuel died, and all the Israeli people gathered and mourned for him. They buried his body outside his home in Ramah. Then David and his men moved to the Maon Desert.

2 And [there is] a man in Maon, and his work [is] in Carmel; and the man [is] very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel.

In Maon [town] there was a man who owned land in Carmel, [a nearby village]. He was very rich; he owned 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats.

3 And the name of the man [is] Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman [is] of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man [is] hard and evil [in] doings; and he [is] a Calebite.

His name was Nabal; he was a descendant of Caleb. His wife Abigail was a wise and beautiful woman, but Nabal was very cruel and treated people very unkindly [IDM].

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

One day while David [and his men] were in the desert, someone told him that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep.

5 and David sendeth ten young men, and David saith to the young men, 'Go ye up to Carmel, and ye have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare,

So David told ten of his men, “Go to Nabal at Carmel and greet him for me.

6 and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast — peace!

Then tell to him this message from me, ‘I wish/desire that things will go well for you and your family and for everything that you possess.

7 and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.

‘heard people say that you are cutting the wool from your sheep. Previously, when your shepherds were among us, we did not harm them. All the time that your shepherds were among us at Camel, we did not steal any sheep from them.

8 'Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.'

You can ask your servants if this is true, and they will tell you [that it is true]. We have come here at a time when you are celebrating, so I ask you to please be kind to us and give these men whatever extra food you have, for me, David, and my men to eat.’”

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

When David’s men arrived where Nabal was, they gave David’s message to him, and they waited [for him to reply]. But Nabal spoke harshly to them.

10 And Nabal answereth the servants of David and saith, 'Who [is] David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master;

He said to them, “Who [does] this man, this son of Jesse, [think that he] is? [DOU, RHQ] There are many slaves who are running away from their masters at the present time, [and it seems to me that he is just one of them].

11 and I have 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 whence they [are]!'

I give bread and water to the men who are cutting the wool from my sheep, and I give them meat from animals that I have slaughtered. Why should I take some of those things and give them to a group of outlaws [RHQ]? (Who knows where they have come from?/I do not even know where they have come from.)” [RHQ]

12 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.

Then David’s men returned and told him what Nabal had said.

13 And David saith to his men, 'Gird ye on each his sword;' and they gird on each his sword, and David also girdeth on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels.

When David heard that, he told his men, “[We are going to kill Nabal; ] fasten your swords!” So he fastened on his sword and about 400 men fastened on their swords and went with David. There were 200 of his men who stayed with their supplies.

14 And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, 'Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them;

One of Nabal’s servants [found out what David and his men were planning to do, so he] went to Nabal’s wife Abigail and said to her, “David sent some messengers from the desert to greet our master Nabal, but Nabal only yelled at them.

15 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;

All the time that we were in the fields close to them, those men of David were very kind to us. They did not harm us. They did not steal anything from us.

16 a wall they have been unto us both by night and by day, all the days of our being with them, feeding the flock.

They protected us during the daytime and during the night. They were like a wall [MET] around us to protect us while we were taking care of our sheep.

17 'And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he [is] too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'

So now you should think about it and decide what you can do. [If you do not do something, ] terrible things will happen to our master and to all his family. Nabal is an extremely wicked man, with the result that [he will not heed anyone when] that person tries to tell him anything [that he should do].”

18 And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth [them] on the asses.

[When] Abigail [heard that, she] very quickly gathered 200 loaves [of bread], and also got two leather bags full of wine, the meat from five sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 packs of raisins, and 200 packs of dried figs. She put all those things on donkeys.

19 And she saith to her young men, 'Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared [it];

Then she told her servants, “Go ahead of me. I will follow you.” But she did not tell her husband [what she was going to do].

20 and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them.

David and his men [had left the place where they were staying and were on the road to Nabal’s property. They] were coming down a hill when they met Abigail.

21 And David said, 'Only, in vain I have kept all that this [one] hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;

David had been saying to his men, “It was useless for us to protect that man and all his possessions here in this desert. We did not steal anything that belonged to him, but he has done evil to me in return for our good [things we did for him].

22 thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning — of those sitting on the wall.'

I hope/desire that God will strike me and kill me [IDM] if he or even one of his men [IDM] is still alive tomorrow morning!”

23 And Abigail seeth David, and hasteth and cometh down from off the ass, and falleth before David on her face, and boweth herself to the earth,

When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey and bowed before him, with her face touching the ground.

24 and falleth at his feet and saith, 'On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray thee, thy handmaid speak in thine ear, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

Then she prostrated herself at David’s feet and said to him, “Sir, I deserve to be punished [for what my husband has done]. Please listen to what I say to you.

25 'Let not, I pray thee, 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, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send;

Please do not pay attention to [IDM] what this worthless man Nabal has said. His name means ‘fool’, and he surely is a foolish man. But I, who am [willing to be] your servant, did not see the messengers whom you sent to him.

26 and now, my lord, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Jehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee — now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.

Yahweh has prevented you from getting revenge on anyone and killing anyone. I hope/desire that as surely as Yahweh lives and as surely as you live, your enemies will be [cursed] like Nabal will be.

27 'And, now, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord — it hath been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord.

I have brought a gift for you and for the men who are with you.

28 'Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee [all] thy days.

Please forgive me if I have done anything wrong to you. Yahweh will surely [reward you by] allowing many of your descendants to become kings of Israel, because you are fighting the battles that Yahweh [wants you to fight]. And [I know that] throughout all your life you have not done anything wrong.

29 And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.

Even when those who are trying to kill you pursue you, you are safe, because Yahweh your God takes care of you. You will be [protected as though you were] [MET] a bundle that he has safely tied up. But your enemies will [disappear as fast as stones] that are hurled from a sling.

30 'And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel,

Yahweh has promised to do good things for you, and he will do what he has promised. And he will cause you to become the ruler of the Israeli people.

31 that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord — either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.'

When that happens, [you will be glad that you did not kill any] people in Nabal’s household. You will not think that you deserve to be punished for having taken revenge yourself and killed innocent people. And when Yahweh enables you to successfully [become the king], please do not forget [to be kind to] me.”

32 And David saith to Abigail, 'Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me,

David replied to Abigail, “I praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], because he sent you to [talk with] me.

33 and blessed [is] thy discretion, and blessed [art] thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself.

I hope/desire that Yahweh will bless you for being very wise. You have prevented me from taking revenge myself and killing many people [MTY] today.

34 And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.'

Just as surely as Yahweh the God whom we Israelis [worship] is alive, he has prevented me from harming you. If you had not come quickly to talk to me, neither Nabal nor even one of Nabal’s men [IDM] would be still alive tomorrow morning.”

35 And David receiveth from her hand that which she hath brought to him, and to her he hath said, 'Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accept thy face.'

Then David accepted the gifts that Abigail had brought to him. He said to her, “I hope/desire that things will go well for you. I have heard what you said, and I will do what you have requested.”

36 And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal [is] glad within him, and he [is] drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning.

When Abigail returned to Nabal, he was in his house, having a big celebration like kings have. He was very drunk and feeling very happy. So Abigail did not say anything to him that night [about her meeting with David].

37 And it cometh to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declareth to him these things, and his heart dieth within him, and he hath been as a stone.

The next morning, when he was no longer drunk, she told him everything [that had happened when she talked with David]. [Immediately] (he had a stroke/a blood vessel burst in his brain) and he became paralyzed [MET].

38 And it cometh to pass, [in] about ten days, that Jehovah smiteth Nabal, and he dieth,

About ten days later Yahweh struck him [again] and he died.

39 and David heareth that Nabal [is] dead, and saith, 'Blessed [is] Jehovah who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant hath kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal hath Jehovah turned back on his own head;' and David sendeth and speaketh with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife.

After David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise Yahweh! Nabal insulted me, but Yahweh (vindicated me/got revenge for me). He has prevented me from [doing anything] wrong. And he has punished Nabal for the wrong that he did.” Then David sent [messengers] to Abigail, to ask her if she would become his wife.

40 And the servants of David come in unto Abigail at Carmel, and speak unto her, saying, 'David hath sent us unto thee to take thee to him for a wife.'

His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David sent us to take you to become his wife.”

41 And she riseth and boweth herself — face to the earth — and saith, 'Lo, thy handmaid [is] for a maid-servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.'

Abigail bowed down with her face touching the ground. Then she told [the messengers to tell David], “[I am happy to become your wife]. I will be your servant. And I am willing to wash the feet of your slaves.”

42 And Abigail hasteth and riseth, and rideth on the ass; and five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goeth after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife.

Abigail quickly got on her donkey and went with David’s messengers. Five of her maids went with her. [When she arrived where David was, ] she became his wife.

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

David had previously married Ahinoam, a woman from Jezreel [town near Carmel]. So both Abigail and Ahinoam were now David’s wives.

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

King Saul’s daughter Michal was also David’s wife, but Saul had given her to Laish’s son Paltiel, who was from Gallim [town].