Kings I 25

1 And Samuel died, and all Israel assembled, and bewailed him, and they bury him in his house in Armathaim: and David arose, and went down to the wilderness 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 And there was a man in Maon, and his flocks were in Carmel, and [he was] a very great man; and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand she-goats: and he happened to be shearing his flock 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 And the man's name [was] Nabal, and his wife's name [was] Abigaia: and his wife [was] of good understanding and very beautiful in person: but the man [was] harsh, and evil in his doings, and the man [was] churlish.

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 heard in the wilderness, that Nabal the Carmelite was shearing his sheep.

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

5 And David sent ten young men, and he said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name how he is.

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 thus shall ye say, May thou and thy house seasonably prosper, and all thine be in prosperity.

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 And now, behold, I have heard that thy shepherds who were with is in the wilderness are shearing thy sheep, and we hindered them not, neither did we demand any thing from them all the time 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 Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Let then thy servants find grace in thine eyes, for we are come on a good day; give we pray thee, whatsoever thy hand may find, to thy 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 So the servants come and speak these words to Nabal, according to all these words in the name of David.

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

10 And Nabal sprang up, and answered the servants of David, and said, Who [is] David? and who [is] the son of Jessae? Now-a-days there is abundance of servants who depart every one from his master.

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 And shall I take my bread, and my wine, and my beasts that I have slain for my shearers, and shall I give them to men of whom I know not whence they are?

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 the servants of David turned back, and returned, and came and reported to David according to these words.

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

13 And David said to his men, Gird on every man his sword. And they went up after David, about four hundred men: and two hundred abode with the stuff.

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 And one of the servants reported to Abigaia the wife of Nabal, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our lord; but he turned away from them.

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 And the men were very good to us; they did not hinder us, neither did they demand from us any thing all the days that we were with them.

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 And when we were in the field, they were as a wall round about us, both by night and by day, all the days that we were with them feeding the flock.

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

17 And now do thou consider, and see what thou wilt do; for mischief is determined against our lord and against his house; and he [is] a vile character, and one cannot speak 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 And Abigaia hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five ephahs of fine flour, and one homer of dried grapes, and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them upon 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 servants, Go on before me, and behold I come after you: but she told not her husband.

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 And it came to pass when she had mounted her ass and was going down by the covert of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down to meet her, and she met 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 And David said, Perhaps I have kept all his possessions in the wilderness that he should wrong me, and we did not order the taking anything of all his goods; yet he has rewarded me 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 So God do to David and more also, if I leave one male of all that belong to Nabal until the morning.

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 Abigaia saw David, and she hasted and alighted from her ass; and she felt before David on her face, and did obeisance to him, [bowing] to the ground

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

24 [even] to his feet, and said, On me, my lord, be my wrong: let, I pray thee, thy servant speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy 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 not my lord, I pray thee, take to heart this pestilent man, for according to his name, so is he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the servants of my lord whom thou didst send.

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 And now, my lord, [as] the Lord lives, and thy soul lives, as the Lord has kept thee from coming against innocent blood, and from executing vengeance for thyself, now therefore let thine enemies, and those that seek evil against my lord, become as 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 now accept this token of goodwill, which thy servant has brought to my lord, and thou shalt give it to the servants that wait on 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 Remove, I pray thee, the trespass of thy servant; for the Lord will surely make for my lord a sure house, for the Lord fights the battles of my lord, and there shall no evil be ever found in thee.

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 [if] a man shall rise up persecuting thee and seeking thy life, yet shall the life of my lord be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord God, and thou shalt whirl the life of thine enemies [as] in the midst of a sling.

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 it shall be when the Lord shall have wrought for my lord all the good things he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee to be ruler over Israel;

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

31 then this shall not be an abomination and offence to my lord, to have shed innocent blood without cause, and for my lord to have avenged himself: and so may the Lord do good to my lord, and thou shalt remember thine handmaid to do her good.

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 Abigaia, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel, who sent thee this very day to meet me:

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

33 and blessed [be] thy conduct, and blessed [be] thou, who hast hindered me this very day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself.

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 But surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who hindered me this day from doing thee harm, if thou hadst not hasted and come to meet me, then I said, There shall [surely] not be left to Nabal till the morning one male.

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 And David took of her hand all that she brought to him, and said to her, Go in peace to thy house: see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accepted thy petition.

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 Abigaia came to Nabal: and, behold, he had a banquet in this house, as the banquet of a king, and the heart of Nabal [was] merry within him, and he [was] very drunken: and she told him nothing great or small till the morning light.

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 it came to pass in the morning, when Nabal recovered from his wine, his wife told him these words; and his heart died within him, and he became as a 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 it came to pass after about ten days, that the Lord smote Nabal, and he died.

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

39 And David heard it and said, Blessed [be] the Lord, who has judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and has delivered his servant from the power of evil; and the Lord has returned the mischief of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and spoke concerning Abigaia, to take her to himself for a 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 So the servants of David came to Abigaia to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a 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 arose, and did reverence with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thy servant [is] for an handmaid to wash the feet of thy servants.

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 And Abigaia arose, and mounted her ass, and five damsels followed her: and she went after the servants of David, and became his 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 took Achinaam out of Jezrael, and they were both his wives.

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

44 And Saul gave Melchol his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Amis who was of Romma.

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