1 Samuel 25

1 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.

Now Samuel died. All Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

2 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.

There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel. The man was very wealthy. He had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

3 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.

The man's name was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance. But the man was harsh and evil in his dealings. He was a descendant of the house of Caleb.

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

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

5 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;

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

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

You will say to him, 'Live in prosperity. Peace to you and peace to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

7 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.

I hear that you have shearers. Your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing the whole time they were in Carmel.

8 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.

Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Now let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.'”

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

When David's young men arrived, they said all of this to Nabal on David's behalf and then waited.

10 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.

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

11 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?

Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”

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

So David's young men turned away and came back, and told him everything that was said.

13 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.

David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword.” So every man strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men followed after David, and two hundred stayed by the baggage.

14 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.

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife; he said, “David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he insulted them.

15 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:

Yet the men were very good to us. We were not harmed and did not miss anything as long as we went with them when we were in the fields.

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

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

17 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.

Therefore know this and consider what you will do, for evil is plotted against our master, and against his whole house. He is such a worthless fellow that one cannot reason with him.”

18 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.

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

19 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.

She said to her young men, “Go on before me, and I will come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 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.

As she rode on her donkey and came down by the cover of the mountain, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.

21 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.

Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.

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

May God do so to me, David, and more also, if by the morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

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

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from her donkey and lay before David facedown and bowed herself to the ground.

24 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.

She lay at his feet and said, “On me alone, my master, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak to you, and listen to the words of your servant.

25 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.

Let not my master regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, 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 of my master, whom you sent.

26 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.

Now then, my master, as Yahweh lives, and as you live, since Yahweh has restrained you from bloodshed, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies, and those who seek to do evil to my master, be like Nabal.

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

Now let this present that your servant has brought to my master be given to the young men who follow my master.

28 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.

Please forgive the trespass of your servant, for Yahweh will certainly make my master a sure house, because my master is fighting the battles of Yahweh; and evil will not be found in you so long as you live.

29 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.

Though men rise up to pursue you to take your life, yet the life of my master will be bound in the bundle of the living by Yahweh your God; and he will sling away the lives of your enemies, as from the pocket of a sling.

30 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;

Yahweh will have done for my master everything he promised you, and has appointed you leader over Israel.

31 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.

This will not be a staggering burden for you—that you have poured out innocent blood, or because my master attempted to rescue himself. For when Yahweh will do good for my master, remember your servant.”

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

David said to Abigail, “May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be blessed, he who sent you to meet me today.

33 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.

Your wisdom is blessed and you are blessed, because you have kept me today from bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand!

34 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.

For in truth, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, he who has kept me from hurting you, unless you had hurried to come meet me, there would certainly have not been left to Nabal so much as one male baby by morning.”

35 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.

So David received from her hand what she had brought him; he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house; see, I have listened to your voice and have accepted you.”

36 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.

Abigail went back to Nabal; behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light.

37 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.

It came about in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.

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

It came about ten days later that Yahweh attacked Nabal so that he died.

39 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.

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “May Yahweh be blessed, who has taken up the cause of my insult from the hand of Nabal and has kept back his servant from evil. He has turned Nabal's evil action back on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her to himself as wife.

40 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.

When David's servants had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her and said, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.”

41 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.

She arose, bowed herself with her face to the ground, and said, “See, your female servant is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my master.”

42 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.

Abigail hurried and arose, and rode on a donkey with five servant girls of hers who followed her; and she followed David's messengers and became his wife.

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

Now David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel as a wife; both of them became his wives.

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

Also, Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was of Gallim.