1Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. (Ge 50:10; Nu 10:12; Nu 20:29; De 34:8; 1Sa 1:19; 1Sa 28:3; 1Ki 2:34)2And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. (Ge 38:13; Jos 15:55; 1Sa 23:24; 2Sa 13:23)3Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. (1Sa 30:14)4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. (1Sa 25:2)5So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name.6And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. (1Ch 12:18; Mt 10:13; Lu 10:5)7I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. (1Sa 25:15; 1Sa 25:21)8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” (Es 8:17; Es 9:19; Es 9:22)9When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited.10And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. (Jud 9:28; Jud 12:4)11Shall 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?” (Jud 8:6; 1Sa 22:2)12So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this.13And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. (1Sa 22:2; 1Sa 23:13; 1Sa 27:2; 1Sa 30:24)14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.15Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. (1Sa 25:7; 1Sa 25:21)16They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. (Job 1:10)17Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.” (De 13:13; 1Sa 20:7)18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs[1] of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.19And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.20And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.21Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. (1Sa 25:7; 1Sa 25:15; Ps 109:5; Pr 17:13)22God do so to the enemies of David[2] and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” (Ru 1:17)23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. (Ge 24:64; Jos 15:18; Jud 1:14; Ru 2:10; 1Sa 25:41)24She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. (2Sa 14:9)25Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal[3] is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. (1Sa 25:17)26Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. (Ge 20:6; 1Sa 20:3; 2Sa 18:32; Ro 12:19; Heb 10:30)27And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. (Ge 33:11; 1Sa 30:26; 2Ki 5:15)28Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. (1Sa 2:35; 1Sa 18:17; 2Sa 7:11; 2Sa 7:27; 1Ki 9:5; 1Ki 11:38; 1Ch 17:10; 1Ch 17:25)29If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. (Jer 10:18)30And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince[4] over Israel,31my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” (1Sa 25:26)32And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! (Ge 24:27; Ps 41:13; Ps 72:18; Lu 1:68)33Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! (1Sa 25:26)34For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” (Ru 3:13; 1Sa 25:26)35Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.” (1Sa 1:17)36And Abigail came to Nabal, and 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. (1Sa 22:15; 2Sa 13:23; 2Sa 13:28; 1Ki 21:7)37In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.38And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. (1Sa 26:10)39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. (1Sa 24:15; 1Sa 25:26; 1Sa 25:32; 1Sa 25:33; 1Ki 2:44; Ps 7:16; So 8:8; Eze 17:19)40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.”41And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” (Ru 2:10)42And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. (Jos 15:56; 1Sa 27:3; 1Sa 30:5; 2Sa 2:2; 2Sa 3:2; 1Ch 3:1)44Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
1 Samuel 25
New International Version
David, Nabal and Abigail
1Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.[1]2A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.3His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings – he was a Calebite.4While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.5So he sent ten young men and said to them, ‘Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name.6Say to him: “Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!7‘ “Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not ill-treat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing.8Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favourable towards my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.” ’9When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.10Nabal answered David’s servants, ‘Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.11Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?’12David’s men turned round and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word.13David said to his men, ‘Each of you strap on your sword!’ So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.14One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, ‘David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them.15Yet these men were very good to us. They did not ill-treat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing.16Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.17Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no-one can talk to him.’18Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs[2] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.19Then she told her servants, ‘Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal.20As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending towards her, and she met them.21David had just said, ‘It’s been useless – all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.22May God deal with David,[3] be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!’23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.24She fell at his feet and said: ‘Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say.25Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name – his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent.26And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.27And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.28‘Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live.29Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.30When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel,31my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.’32David said to Abigail, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.33May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.34Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.’35Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought to him and said, ‘Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.’36When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak.37Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.38About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ‘Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.’ Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.40His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, ‘David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.’41She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, ‘I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.’42Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife.43David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.44But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel[4] son of Laish, who was from Gallim.