1When Samuel died, the whole nation of Israel gathered together. They were filled with sorrow because he was dead. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David went down into the Desert of Paran.2A certain man in Maon was very wealthy. He owned property there at Carmel. He had 1,000 goats and 3,000 sheep. He was clipping the wool off the sheep in Carmel.3His name was Nabal. His wife’s name was Abigail. She was a wise and beautiful woman. But her husband was rude and mean in the way he treated others. He was from the family of Caleb.4David was staying in the Desert of Paran. While he was there, he heard that Nabal was clipping the wool off his sheep.5So he sent for ten young men. He said to them, ‘Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him for me.6Say to him, “May you live a long time! May everything go well with you and your family! And may things go well with everything that belongs to you!7‘ “I hear that you are clipping the wool off your sheep. When your shepherds were with us, we treated them well. The whole time they were at Carmel nothing that belonged to them was stolen.8Ask your own servants. They’ll tell you. We’ve come to you now at a happy time of the year. Please be kind to my men. Please give me and my men anything you can find for us.” ’9When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal the message from David. Then they waited.10Nabal answered David’s servants, ‘Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are running away from their masters these days.11Why should I give away my bread and water? Why should I give away the meat I’ve prepared for those who clip the wool off my sheep? Why should I give food to men who come from who knows where?’12So David’s men turned round and went back. When they arrived, they reported to David every word Nabal had spoken.13David said to his men, ‘Each of you put on your swords!’ So they did. David put his sword on too. About 400 men went up with David. Two hundred men stayed behind with the supplies.14One of the servants warned Abigail, Nabal’s wife. He said, ‘David sent some messengers from the desert to give his greetings to our master. But Nabal shouted at them and was rude to them.15David’s men had been very good to us. They treated us well. The whole time we were near them out in the fields, nothing was stolen.16We were taking care of our sheep near them. During that time, they were like a wall around us night and day. They kept us safe.17Now think it over. See what you can do. Horrible trouble will soon come to our master and his whole family. He’s such an evil man that no one can even talk to him.’18Abigail didn’t waste any time. She got 200 loaves of bread and two bottles of wine. The bottles were made out of animal skins. She got five sheep that were ready to be cooked. She got 25 kilograms of corn that had been cooked. She got 100 raisin cakes. And she got 200 cakes of pressed figs. She loaded all of it on the backs of donkeys.19Then she told her servants, ‘Go on ahead. I’ll follow you.’ But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal about it.20Abigail rode her donkey into a mountain valley. There she saw David and his men. They were coming down towards her.21David had just said, ‘Everything we’ve done hasn’t been worth a thing! I watched over that fellow’s property in the desert. I made sure none of it was stolen. But he has paid me back evil for good.22I won’t leave even one of his men alive until morning. If I do, may God punish me greatly!’23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey. She bowed down in front of David with her face towards the ground.24She fell at his feet. She said, ‘Pardon your servant, sir. Please let me speak to you. Listen to what I’m saying. Let me take the blame myself.25Please don’t pay any attention to that evil man Nabal. His name means Foolish Person. And that’s exactly what he is. He’s always doing foolish things. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see the men you sent.26Sir, the LORD has kept you from killing Nabal and his men. He has kept you from using your own hands to get even. So may what’s about to happen to Nabal happen to all your enemies. May it happen to everyone who wants to harm you. And may it happen just as surely as the LORD your God and you are alive.27I’ve brought a gift for you. Give it to the men who follow you.28‘Please forgive me if I shouldn’t have done that. The LORD your God will certainly give you and your family line a kingdom that will last. That’s because you fight the LORD’s battles. You won’t do anything wrong as long as you live.29Someone may chase you and try to kill you. But the LORD your God will keep your life safe like a treasure hidden in a bag. And he’ll destroy your enemies. Their lives will be thrown away, just as a stone is thrown from a sling.30The LORD will do for you every good thing he promised to do. He’ll appoint you ruler over Israel.31When that happens, you won’t have this heavy load on your mind. You won’t have to worry about how you killed people without any reason. You won’t have to worry about how you got even. The LORD your God will give you success. When that happens, please remember me.’32David said to Abigail, ‘Give praise to the LORD. He is the God of Israel. He has sent you today to find me.33May the LORD bless you for what you have done. You have shown a lot of good sense. You have kept me from killing Nabal and his men this day. You have kept me from using my own hands to get even.34It’s a good thing you came quickly to meet me. If you hadn’t come, not one of Nabal’s men would have been left alive by sunrise. And that’s just as sure as the LORD, the God of Israel, is alive. He has kept me from harming you.’35Then David accepted from her what she had brought him. He said, ‘Go home in peace. I’ve heard your words. I’ll do what you have asked.’36Abigail went back to Nabal. He was having a dinner party in the house. It was the kind of dinner a king would have. He had been drinking too much wine. He was very drunk. So she didn’t tell him anything at all until sunrise.37The next morning Nabal wasn’t drunk anymore. Then his wife told him everything. When she did, his heart grew weak. He became like a stone.38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal down. And he died.39David heard that Nabal was dead. So he said, ‘Give praise to the LORD. Nabal was rude to me. But the LORD stood up for me. He has kept me from doing something wrong. He has paid Nabal back for the wrong things he did.’ Then David sent a message to Abigail. He asked her to become his wife.40His servants went to Carmel. They said to Abigail, ‘David has sent us to you. He wants you to come back with us and become his wife.’41Abigail bowed down with her face towards the ground. She said, ‘I am your servant. I’m ready to serve him. I’m ready to wash the feet of his servants.’42Abigail quickly got on a donkey and went with David’s messengers. Her five female servants went with her. She became David’s wife.43David had also married Ahinoam from Jezreel. Both of them became his wives.44But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s first wife, to Paltiel. Paltiel was from Gallim. He was the son of Laish.
1 Samuel 25
English Standard Version
The Death of SamuelDavid and Abigail
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.