1 Samuel 25
25
Samuel’s Death
1Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.
Nabal and Abigail
2Now there was a man in Maon whose business and possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3(now the man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was a #25:3 I.e. a descendant of Caleb.Calebite). 4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and #25:5 Lit ask him of his peace (welfare). It was customary to greet someone by asking him of his welfare (Heb shalom), like “How are you?” However, David specifies the greeting in v 6 without the actual question, so the question here (v 5) is just a way of saying, “greet him.”greet him in my name; 6and this is what you shall say, ‘#25:6 Lit To life!Have a long life! Peace be to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have. 7Now I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not harmed them, nor were they missing anything all the time they were in Carmel. 8Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight [and be well-treated], for we have come on a #25:8 The time of shearing was a time of celebration and generosity.good (festive) day. #25:8 David and his men had given protection to Nabal’s flocks and shepherds, and it was appropriate for David to ask for compensation for this service.Please, give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
9When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David; then they waited. 10But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? #25:10 Nabal was insulting David and his men by implying that as far as he was concerned, they could be nothing but runaway slaves.There are many servants today, each of whom is breaking away from his master. 11So should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” 12So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said [to them by Nabal]. 13David said to his men, “Each man put on your sword.” So each man put on his sword. David also put on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed back with the provisions and supplies.
14But one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Listen, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless (greet) our master, and he shouted at them [in contempt]. 15But David’s men were very good to us, and we were not harmed or treated badly, nor did we miss anything as long as we were with them, when we were in the fields. 16They were a wall [of protection] to us both night and day, all the time that we were with them tending the sheep. 17Now then, know this and consider what you should do, for evil is [already] planned against our master and against all his household; but he is such a #25:17 Lit son of Belial.worthless and wicked man that one cannot speak [reasonably] to him.”
Abigail Intercedes
18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared [for roasting], five measures of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19She said to her young men (servants), “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20It happened that as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by [way of] the hidden part of the mountain, that suddenly David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them. 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected and guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good. 22May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave [alive] even one #25:22 Lit who urinates against a wall.male of any who belong to him.”
23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from the donkey, and #25:23 Lit fell.kneeled face downward before David and bowed down to the ground [in respect]. 24#25:24 Lit Falling.Kneeling at his feet she said, “My lord, let the blame and guilt be on me alone. And please let your maidservant speak #25:24 Lit in your ears.to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25Please do not let my lord #25:25 Lit set his heart to.pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal (fool) is his #25:25 Nabal means “worthless, good for nothing.”name and foolishness (stupidity) is with him; but I your maidservant did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
26So now, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has prevented you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord, be as [self-destructive as] Nabal. 27Now this gift, which your maidservant has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who #25:27 Lit walk at the feet of.accompany and follow my lord. 28Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a secure and enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in you all your days. 29Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound in the [precious] bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies—those He will hurl out as from the center of a sling. 30And it will happen when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken (promised) concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, 31that this [incident] will not cause grief or [bring] a troubled conscience to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember [with favor] your maidservant.”
32David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day. 33And blessed be your discretion and discernment, and blessed be you, who has kept me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself by my own hand. 34Nevertheless, as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, most certainly by the morning light there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35So David #25:35 Lit took from her hand.accepted what she had brought to him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and have #25:35 Lit lifted up your face, an idiom used in various positive ways, probably based on the idea of a superior person permitting someone to look him in the eye.granted your request.”
36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s #25:36 Lit heart.mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37But in the morning, when #25:37 Lit the wine had gone out of.Nabal was sober, and his wife told him these things, his #25:37 Nabal probably suffered a stroke.heart died within him and he became [paralyzed and helpless] like a stone. 38About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
David Marries Abigail
39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach [suffered] at the hand of Nabal and has kept His servant from [retaliating with] evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, proposing to take her as his wife. 40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to you to take you [to him] to be his wife.” 41And she stood and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is [ready to be] a maid to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42Then Abigail quickly got up, and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens who #25:42 Lit walked at her feet.attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
43David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.
44But Saul had given Michal his [younger] daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
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1 Samuel 25
25
Abigail saves David
1Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. David then left and went down to the Maon wilderness.#25.1 LXX; MT Paran
2There was a man in Maon who did business in Carmel. He was a very important man and owned three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. At that time, he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and attractive woman, but her husband was a hard man who did evil things. He was a Calebite.
4While in the wilderness, David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten servants, telling them, “Go up to Carmel. When you get to Nabal, greet him for me. 6Say this to him: ‘Peace to you,#25.6 Heb uncertain your household, and all that is yours! 7I’ve heard that you are now shearing sheep. As you know, your shepherds were with us in the wilderness.#25.7 LXX, Syr; MT lacks in the wilderness. We didn’t mistreat them. Moreover, the whole time they were at Carmel, nothing of theirs went missing. 8Ask your servants; they will tell you the same. So please receive these young men favorably, because we’ve come on a special day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
9When David’s young men arrived, they said all this to Nabal on David’s behalf. Then they waited. 10But Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is Jesse’s son? There are all sorts of slaves running away from their masters these days. 11Why should I take my bread, my water, and the meat I’ve butchered for my shearers and give it to people who came here from who knows where?” 12So David’s young servants turned around and went back the way they came. When they arrived, they reported every word of this to David.
13Then David said to his soldiers, “All of you, strap on your swords!” So each of them strapped on their swords, and David did the same. Nearly four hundred men went up with David. Two hundred men remained back with the supplies.
14One of Nabal’s servants told his wife Abigail, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he just yelled at them. 15But the men were very good to us and didn’t mistreat us. Nothing of ours went missing the whole time we were out with them in the fields. 16In fact, the whole time we were with them, watching our sheep, they were a protective wall around us both night and day. 17Think about that and see what you can do, because trouble is coming for our master and his whole household. But he’s such a despicable person no one can speak to him.”
18Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep ready for cooking, five seahs#25.18 One seah is approximately seven and a half quarts. of roasted grain, one hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes. She loaded all this on donkeys 19and told her servants, “Go on ahead of me. I’ll be right behind you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal.
20As she was riding her donkey, going down a trail on the hillside, David and his soldiers appeared, descending toward her, and she met up with them. 21David had just been saying, “What a waste of time—guarding all this man’s stuff in the wilderness so that nothing of his went missing! He has repaid me evil instead of good! 22May God deal harshly with me, David,#25.22 LXX; MT with David’s enemies and worse still if I leave alive even one single one who urinates on a wall#25.22 Descriptive phrase meaning "a male"; also in 25:34 belonging to him come morning!”
23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and fell facedown before him, bowing low to the ground. 24She fell at his feet and said, “Put the blame on me, my master! But please let me, your servant, speak to you directly. Please listen to what your servant has to say. 25Please, my master, pay no attention to this despicable man Nabal. He’s exactly what his name says he is! His name means fool,#25.25 Heb nabal and he is foolish!#25.25 Heb nebalah But I myself, your servant, didn’t see the young men that you, my master, sent. 26I pledge, my master, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, that the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and taking vengeance into your own hands! But now let your enemies and those who seek to harm my master be exactly like Nabal! 27Here is a gift, which your servant has brought to my master. Please let it be given to the young men who follow you, my master. 28Please forgive any offense by your servant. The LORD will definitely make an enduring dynasty for my master because my master fights the LORD’s battles, and nothing evil will be found in you throughout your lifetime. 29If someone chases after you and tries to kill you, my master, then your life will be bound up securely in the bundle of life#25.29 Or bundle of the living; Heb uncertain; perhaps a tied-up scroll (cf Exod 32:32-33; Ps 69:28; Isa 8:16) by the LORD your God, but he will fling away your enemies’ lives as from the pouch of a sling. 30When the LORD has done for my master all the good things he has promised you, and has installed you as Israel’s leader, 31don’t let this be a blot or burden on my master’s conscience, that you shed blood needlessly or that my master took vengeance into his own hands. When the LORD has done good things for my master, please remember your servant.”
32David said to Abigail, “Bless the LORD God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! 33And bless you and your good judgment for preventing me from shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands today! 34Otherwise, as surely as the LORD God of Israel lives—the one who kept me from hurting you—if you hadn’t come quickly and met up with me, there wouldn’t be one single one who urinates on a wall left come morning.” 35Then David accepted everything she had brought for him. “Return home in peace,” he told her. “Be assured that I’ve heard your request and have agreed to it.”
36When Abigail got back home to Nabal, he was throwing a party fit for a king in his house. Nabal was in a great mood and very drunk, so Abigail didn’t tell him anything until daybreak. 37In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him everything. Nabal’s heart failed inside 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, “Bless the LORD, who has rendered a verdict regarding Nabal’s insult to me and who kept me, his servant, from doing something evil! The LORD has brought Nabal’s evil down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, saying that he would take her as his wife.
40When David’s servants reached Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you so you can become his wife.”
41She bowed low to the ground and said, “I am your servant, ready to serve and wash the feet of my master’s helpers.” 42Then Abigail got up quickly and rode on her donkey, with five of her young women going with her. She followed David’s messengers and became his wife.
43David also married Ahinoam from Jezreel, so both of them were his wives. 44But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti, Laish’s son, from Gallim.
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