I Samuelis 25

1 Mortuus est autem Samuel, et congregatus est universus Israël, et planxerunt eum, et sepelierunt eum in domo sua in Ramatha. Consurgensque David descendit in desertum Pharan.

When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David set out and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

2 Erat autem vir quispiam in solitudine Maon, et possessio ejus in Carmelo, et homo ille magnus nimis: erantque ei oves tria millia, et mille capræ: et accidit ut tonderetur grex ejus in Carmelo.

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

3 Nomen autem viri illius erat Nabal. Et nomen uxoris ejus Abigail: eratque mulier illa prudentissima, et speciosa: porro vir ejus durus, et pessimus, et malitiosus: erat autem de genere Caleb.

His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

4 Cum ergo audisset David in deserto quod tonderet Nabal gregem suum,

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

5 misit decem juvenes, et dixit eis: Ascendite in Carmelum, et venietis ad Nabal, et salutabitis eum ex nomine meo pacifice.

So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

6 Et dicetis: Sit fratribus meis et tibi pax, et domui tuæ pax, et omnibus, quæcumque habes, sit pax.

and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and your house and to all that belongs to you.

7 Audivi quod tonderent pastores tui, qui erant nobiscum in deserto: numquam eis molesti fuimus, nec aliquando defuit quidquam eis de grege, omni tempore quo fuerunt nobiscum in Carmelo.

Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

8 Interroga pueros tuos, et indicabunt tibi. Nunc ergo inveniant pueri tui gratiam in oculis tuis: in die enim bona venimus: quodcumque invenerit manus tua, da servis tuis, et filio tuo David.

Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’”

9 Cumque venissent pueri David, locuti sunt ad Nabal omnia verba hæc ex nomine David: et siluerunt.

When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.

10 Respondens autem Nabal pueris David, ait: Quis est David? et quis est filius Isai? hodie increverunt servi qui fugiunt dominos suos.

But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

11 Tollam ergo panes meos, et aquas meas, et carnes pecorum quæ occidi tonsoribus meis, et dabo viris quos nescio unde sint?

Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

12 Regressi sunt itaque pueri David per viam suam, et reversi venerunt, et nuntiaverunt ei omnia verba quæ dixerat.

So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.

13 Tunc ait David pueris suis: Accingatur unusquisque gladio suo. Et accincti sunt singuli gladiis suis, accinctusque est et David ense suo: et secuti sunt David quasi quadringenti viri: porro ducenti remanserunt ad sarcinas.

And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

14 Abigail autem uxori Nabal nuntiavit unus de pueris suis, dicens: Ecce David misit nuntios de deserto, ut benedicerent domino nostro: et aversatus est eos.

Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scolded them.

15 Homines isti boni satis fuerant nobis, et non molesti: nec quidquam aliquando periit omni tempore quo fuimus conversati cum eis in deserto:

Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.

16 pro muro erant nobis tam in nocte quam in die, omnibus diebus quibus pavimus apud eos greges.

They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.

17 Quam ob rem considera, et recogita quid facias: quoniam completa est malitia adversum virum tuum, et adversum domum tuam, et ipse est filius Belial, ita ut nemo possit ei loqui.

Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”

18 Festinavit igitur Abigail, et tulit ducentos panes, et duos utres vini, et quinque arietes coctos, et quinque sata polentæ, et centum ligaturas uvæ passæ, et ducentas massas caricarum, et posuit super asinos:

Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys

19 dixitque pueris suis: Præcedite me: ecce ego post tergum sequar vos: viro autem suo Nabal non indicavit.

and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 Cum ergo ascendisset asinum, et descenderet ad radices montis, David et viri ejus descendebant in occursum ejus: quibus et illa occurrit.

As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

21 Et ait David: Vere frustra servavi omnia quæ hujus erant in deserto, et non periit quidquam de cunctis quæ ad eum pertinebant: et reddidit mihi malum pro bono.

Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good.

22 Hæc faciat Deus inimicis David, et hæc addat, si reliquero de omnibus quæ ad ipsum pertinent usque mane mingentem ad parietem.

May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”

23 Cum autem vidisset Abigail David, festinavit, et descendit de asino, et procidit coram David super faciem suam, et adoravit super terram,

When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.

24 et cecidit ad pedes ejus, et dixit: In me sit, domine mi, hæc iniquitas: loquatur, obsecro, ancilla tua in auribus tuis, et audi verba famulæ tuæ.

She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.

25 Ne ponat, oro, dominus meus rex cor suum super virum istum iniquum Nabal: quoniam secundum nomen suum stultus est, et stultitia est cum eo: ego autem ancilla tua non vidi pueros tuos, domine mi, quos misisti.

My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

26 Nunc ergo, domine mi, vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, qui prohibuit te ne venires in sanguinem, et salvavit manum tuam tibi: et nunc fiant sicut Nabal inimici tui, et qui quærunt domino meo malum.

Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

27 Quapropter suscipe benedictionem hanc, quam attulit ancilla tua tibi domino meo, et da pueris qui sequuntur te dominum meum.

Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

28 Aufer iniquitatem famulæ tuæ: faciens enim faciet Dominus tibi domino meo domum fidelem, quia prælia Domini, domine mi, tu præliaris: malitia ergo non inveniatur in te omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ.

Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

29 Si enim surrexerit aliquando homo persequens te, et quærens animam tuam, erit anima domini mei custodita quasi in fasciculo viventium apud Dominum Deum tuum: porro inimicorum tuorum anima rotabitur, quasi in impetu et circulo fundæ.

And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

30 Cum ergo fecerit Dominus tibi domino meo omnia quæ locutus est bona de te, et constituerit te ducem super Israël,

When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,

31 non erit tibi hoc in singultum, et in scrupulum cordis domino meo, quod effuderis sanguinem innoxium, aut ipse te ultus fueris: et cum benefecerit Dominus domino meo, recordaberis ancillæ tuæ.

then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your maidservant.”

32 Et ait David ad Abigail: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israël, qui misit hodie te in occursum meum, et benedictum eloquium tuum,

Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!

33 et benedicta tu, quæ prohibuisti me hodie ne irem ad sanguinem, et ulciscerer me manu mea.

Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

34 Alioquin vivit Dominus Deus Israël, qui prohibuit me ne malum facerem tibi: nisi cito venisses in occursum mihi, non remansisset Nabal usque ad lucem matutinam mingens ad parietem.

Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

35 Suscepit ergo David de manu ejus omnia quæ attulerat ei, dixitque ei: Vade pacifice in domum tuam: ecce audivi vocem tuam, et honoravi faciem tuam.

Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

36 Venit autem Abigail ad Nabal: et ecce erat ei convivium in domo ejus quasi convivium regis, et cor Nabal jucundum: erat enim ebrius nimis: et non indicavit ei verbum pusillum aut grande usque mane.

When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

37 Diluculo autem cum digessisset vinum Nabal, indicavit ei uxor sua verba hæc: et emortuum est cor ejus intrinsecus, et factus est quasi lapis.

In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone.

38 Cumque pertransissent decem dies, percussit Dominus Nabal, et mortuus est.

About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

39 Quod cum audisset David mortuum Nabal, ait: Benedictus Dominus, qui judicavit causam opprobrii mei de manu Nabal, et servum suum custodivit a malo, et malitiam Nabal reddidit Dominus in caput ejus. Misit ergo David, et locutus est ad Abigail, ut sumeret eam sibi in uxorem.

On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage.

40 Et venerunt pueri David ad Abigail in Carmelum, et locuti sunt ad eam, dicentes: David misit nos ad te, ut accipiat te sibi in uxorem.

When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

41 Quæ consurgens, adoravit prona in terram, et ait: Ecce famula tua sit in ancillam, ut lavet pedes servorum domini mei.

She arose, then bowed facedown and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

42 Et festinavit, et surrexit Abigail, et ascendit super asinum, et quinque puellæ ierunt cum ea, pedissequæ ejus, et secuta est nuntios David: et facta est illi uxor.

So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

43 Sed et Achinoam accepit David de Jezraël: et fuit utraque uxor ejus.

David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

44 Saul autem dedit Michol filiam suam, uxorem David, Phalti filio Lais, qui erat de Gallim.

But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.