I Samuel 25
25
Death of Samuel
1Then #1 Sam. 23:29Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and #1 Sam. 28:3lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down #Num. 20:29; Deut. 34:8to the Wilderness of Paran.
David and the Wife of Nabal
2Now there was a man #Gen. 21:21; Num. 10:12; 13:3in Maon whose business was in #1 Sam. 23:24Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of #Josh. 15:55Caleb.
4When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was #Josh. 15:13; 1 Sam. 30:14shearing his sheep, 5David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: #Gen. 38:13; 2 Sam. 13:23‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, #Judg. 19:20; 1 Chr. 12:18; Ps. 122:7; Luke 10:5nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. 8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on #1 Sam. 25:15, 21a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
9So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.
10Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, #Neh. 8:10–12; Esth. 8:17; 9:19, 22“Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. 11#Judg. 9:28Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”
12So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. 13Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred #Judg. 8:6, 15stayed with the supplies.
14Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. 15But the men were very good to us, and #1 Sam. 30:24we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. 16They were #1 Sam. 25:7, 21a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for #Ex. 14:22; Job 1:10harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a #1 Sam. 20:7scoundrel that one cannot speak to him.”
18Then Abigail made haste and #Deut. 13:13; Judg. 19:22took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19And she said to her servants, #Gen. 32:13; (Prov. 18:16; 21:14)“Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has #Gen. 32:16, 20repaid me evil for good. 22#1 Sam. 24:17; Ps. 109:5; (Prov. 17:13)May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I #Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam. 3:17; 20:13, 16leave #1 Sam. 25:34one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”
23Now when Abigail saw David, she #1 Kin. 14:10; 21:21; 2 Kin. 9:8dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. 24So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. 25Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26Now therefore, my lord, #Josh. 15:18; Judg. 1:14as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has #2 Kin. 2:2held you back from coming to bloodshed and from #Gen. 20:6; 1 Sam. 25:33avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, #(Rom. 12:19)let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27And now #2 Sam. 18:32this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For #Gen. 33:11; 1 Sam. 30:26; 2 Kin. 5:15the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord #2 Sam. 7:11–16, 27; 1 Kin. 9:5; 1 Chr. 17:10, 25fights the battles of the Lord, #1 Sam. 18:17and evil is not found in you throughout your days. 29Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be #1 Sam. 24:11; Ps. 7:3bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall #(Ps. 66:9; Col. 3:3)sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you #Jer. 10:18ruler over Israel, 31that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”
32Then David said to Abigail: #1 Sam. 13:14; 15:28“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have #Gen. 24:27; Ex. 18:10; 1 Kin. 1:48; Ps. 41:13; 72:18; 106:48; Luke 1:68kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has #1 Sam. 25:26kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely #1 Sam. 25:26by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, #1 Sam. 25:22“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and #1 Sam. 20:42; 2 Sam. 15:9; 2 Kin. 5:19; Luke 7:50; 8:48respected your person.”
36Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, #Gen. 19:21holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 37So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord #2 Sam. 13:28; Prov. 20:1; Is. 5:11; Dan. 5:1; (Hos. 4:11)struck Nabal, and he died.
39So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, #1 Sam. 26:10; 2 Sam. 6:7; Ps. 104:29“Blessed be the Lord, who has #1 Sam. 25:32pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has #1 Sam. 24:15; Prov. 22:23kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has #1 Sam. 25:26, 34returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”
And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”
41Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to #1 Kin. 2:44wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43David also took Ahinoam #(Prov. 15:33); Luke 7:38, 44of Jezreel, #Josh. 15:56and so both of them were his wives.
44But Saul had given #1 Sam. 27:3; 30:5Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from #1 Sam. 18:20; 2 Sam. 3:14Gallim.
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I Samuel 25: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 25
25
1And Samuel died. And all Israel was gathered together; and they mourned for him, and buried him in his house in Ramatha. And David rose and went down into the wilderness of Pharan.
2Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel. And the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats. And it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman; but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill-natured. And he was of the house of Caleb.
4And when David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep,
5He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and salute him in my name with peace.
6And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou hast.
7I heard that thy shepherds that were with us in the desert were shearing. We never molested them; neither was there aught missing to them of the flock at any time, all the while they were with us in Carmel.
8Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we are come in a good day. Whatsoever thy hand shall find give to thy servants, and to thy son David.
9And when David's servants came they spoke to Nabal all these words in David's name: and then held their peace.
10But Nabal answering the servants of David said: Who is David? And what is the son of Isai? Servants are multiplied nowadays who flee from their masters.
11Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the flesh of my cattle, which I have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I know not whence they are?
12So the servants of David went back their way: and returning came and told him all the words that he said.
13Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword: and there followed David about four hundred men. And two hundred remained with the baggage.
14But one of the servants told Abigail the wife of Nabal, saying: Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness, to salute our master; and he rejected them.
15These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble: neither did we ever lose any thing all the time that we conversed with them in the desert.
16They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
17Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do: for evil is determined against thy husband, and against thy house. And he is a son of Belial, so that no man can speak to him.
18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon asses.
19And she said to her servants: Go before me. Behold, I will follow after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
20And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming down to the foot of the mountain, David and his men came down over against her, and she met them.
21And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this man in the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.
22May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of David, if I leave of all that belong to him till the morning any that pisseth against the wall.
23And when Abigail saw David she made haste and lighted off the ass, and fell before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground.
24And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be, my lord. Let thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears: and hear the words of thy servant.
25Let not my lord the king, I pray, regard this naughty man Nabal: for according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him. But I thy handmaid did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest.
26Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to thee: and now let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord.
27Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.
28Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord. Let not evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life.
29For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord thy God. But the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the violence and whirling of a sling.
30And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince over Israel,
31This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when the Lord shall have done well by my lord thou shalt remember thy handmaid.
32And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech.
33And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to-day, from coming to blood, and revenging me with my own hand.
34Otherwise, as the Lord liveth the God of Israel, who hath withholden me from doing thee any evil: if thou hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
35And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and said to her: Go in peace into thy house. Behold, I have heard thy voice, and have honoured thy face.
36And Abigail came to Nabal. And, behold, he had a feast in his house, like the feast of a king, and Nabal's heart was merry: for he was very drunk. And she told him nothing less or more until morning.
37But early in the morning, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife told him these words: and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39And when David had heard that Nabal was dead he said: Blessed be the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil; and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.
40And David's servants came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife.
41And she arose and bowed herself down with her face to the earth, and said: Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five damsels went with her, her waiting maids; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel. And they were both of them his wives.
44But Saul gave Michol his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of Lais, who was of Gallium.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.