1 Samuel 25
1 [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.
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 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.
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 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].
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 One day while David [and his men] were in the desert, someone told him that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep.
David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5 So David told ten of his men, “Go to Nabal at Carmel and greet him for me.
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 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.
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 ‘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.
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 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.’”
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 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.
When David's young men arrived, they said all of this to Nabal on David's behalf and then waited.
10 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].
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 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]
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 Then David’s men returned and told him what Nabal had said.
So David's young men turned away and came back, and told him everything that was said.
13 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
They were a wall to us both day and night, all the while we were with them tending the sheep.
17 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].”
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 [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.
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 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].
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 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.
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 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].
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 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!”
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 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey and bowed before him, with her face touching 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 I have brought a gift for you and for the men who are with you.
Now let this present that your servant has brought to my master be given to the young men who follow my master.
28 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.
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 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.
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 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.
Yahweh will have done for my master everything he promised you, and has appointed you leader over Israel.
31 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.”
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 David replied to Abigail, “I praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], because he sent you to [talk with] me.
David said to Abigail, “May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be blessed, he who sent you to meet me today.
33 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.
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 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.”
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 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.”
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 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].
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 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].
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 About ten days later Yahweh struck him [again] and he died.
It came about ten days later that Yahweh attacked Nabal so that he died.
39 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.
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 His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David sent us to take you to become 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 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.”
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 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.
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 David had previously married Ahinoam, a woman from Jezreel [town near Carmel]. So both Abigail and Ahinoam were now David’s wives.
Now David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel as a wife; both of them became his wives.
44 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].
Also, Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
