1 Samuel 25
25
Abigail and Foolish Nabal
1Then Samuel died, and all Israel gathered and lamented him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. David then arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2Now there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel, and the man was so wealthy, he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. At that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3The man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
4While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5So David dispatched ten young men, and said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and when you reach Nabal, greet him in my name.
6Thus you will say: ‘Long life! And shalom to you, shalom to your house and shalom to all that is yours.
7Now I hear that you have shearers. When your shepherds were with us, we did them no harm and nothing of theirs was missing all the time they were in Carmel.
8Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore, let the young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. So please, give to your servants and to your son David, whatever you find at hand.’”
9David’s young men went and told Nabal all those words in David’s name, and waited.
10But Nabal answered David’s servants by saying, “Who is David? And who is Jesse’s son? Nowadays there are many slaves each running away from his master.
11So should I take my bread, my water and my meat that I have cooked for my shearers, and give it to men whom I don’t know where they come from?”
12So David’s young men turned around and went back. When they came and reported to him all these words,
13David said to his men, “Everyone buckle on your sword!” So each man buckled on his sword and David also buckled on his sword. About 400 men went up following David, while 200 stayed with the baggage.
14But one of the young men told Nabal’s wife Abigail saying, “Look, David had sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he spurned them.
15Yet the men were very good to us. We were not harmed, nor were we missing anything as long as we went about with them while we were in the fields.
16They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time that we were with them tending the sheep.
17Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for evil is determined against our master and against all his household. But he is such a worthless fellow that no one can speak to him.”
18Then Abigail hurried and took 200 loaves, two bottles of wine, five dressed sheep, five measures of roasted corn, 100 cakes of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs, and put them on donkeys.
19Then she said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me—see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20As she was riding on the donkey and going down by the hidden pass of the mountain, behold, David and his men were coming down towards her, so she met them.
21Now David had been saying, “Surely in vain I’ve guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him—yet he has returned me evil for good.
22May God do so and even more to David’s enemies if by the morning I leave even one male of all who belong to him!”
23When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted from her donkey, fell before David on her face and bowed down to the ground.
24As she fell at his feet, she pleaded, “On me, only me, my lord, be the punishment! But please, let your maidservant speak in your ears, and listen to the words of your maidservant.
25Please my lord, pay no attention to this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he—Nabal is his name and disgraceful folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.
26“So now my lord, as Adonai lives and as your soul lives, since Adonai has restrained you from shedding blood and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies and those who are seeking to harm my lord be as Nabal.
27Now let this blessing, which your maidservant has brought to my lord, be given to the young men who are accompanying my lord.
28Please, forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For Adonai will certainly make an enduring house for my lord, because my lord is fighting the battles of Adonai. So let no wrongdoing be found in you all your days.
29If anyone rises to pursue you and seek your life, then let my lord’s life be bound up in the bundle of the living—with Adonai your God. But let the soul of your enemies be hurled away as from the hollow of a sling.
30“So when Adonai has fulfilled for my lord all the good things that He had spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel,
31then this will not be a stumbling-block for you, or offense of heart to my lord, or needless bloodshed by my lord avenging himself. So when Adonai has dealt graciously with my lord, then remember your handmaid.”
32Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be Adonai God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!
33Blessed be your discernment, and may you be blessed for keeping me this day from shedding blood, from avenging myself with my own hand.
34Yet as Adonai God of Israel lives, who restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely not one male of Nabal’s line would have been left alive by the morning light!”
35So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in shalom to your house. Look, I have listened to your plea and have granted your request.”
36Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was holding a banquet in his house like that of a king—Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was quite drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak.
37It came to pass in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, and his wife told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he was paralyzed like a stone.
38About ten days later, Adonai struck Nabal and he died.
39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be Adonai who took the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal, yet has restrained His servant from evil! Adonai has returned Nabal’s vileness on his own head.” Then David sent word and proposed to Abigail to take her as his wife.
40When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they told her, “David has sent us to you, to take you as his wife.”
41So she rose, bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”
42Then Abigail rose quickly and mounted a donkey, with five of her maidens following her, following David’s messengers, and she became his wife.
43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and the two of them were his wives.
44Meanwhile Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
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1 Samuel 25: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
1 Samuel 25
25
Samuel Dies
1Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David went to the desert of Paran.
David, Nabal, and Abigail
2Now, there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very rich man. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3This man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was sensible and beautiful, but he was harsh and mean. He was a descendant of Caleb.
4While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten young men and told them, “Go to Carmel, visit Nabal, and greet him for me. 6Say to him, ‘May you live ⌞long⌟! May you, your home, and all you have prosper! 7I hear that your sheepshearers are with you. Your shepherds have been with us, ⌞and⌟ we have not mistreated them. Nothing of theirs has been missing as long as they’ve been in Carmel. 8Ask your young men, and let them tell you. Be kind to my young men, since we have come on a special occasion. Please give us and your son David anything you can ⌞spare⌟.’ ”
9When David’s young men came to Nabal, they repeated all of this to him for David, and then they waited.
10“Who is David?” Nabal answered David’s servants. “Who is Jesse’s son? So many servants nowadays are leaving their masters. 11Should I take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to men coming from who knows where?”
12David’s young men returned and told him all this.
13“Each of you put on your swords!” David told his men. And everyone, including David, put on his sword. About four hundred men went with David, while two hundred men stayed with the supplies.
14One of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, who yelled at them. 15Those men were very good to us. They didn’t mistreat us, and we found that nothing was missing wherever we went with them when we were in the fields. 16They were a wall protecting us day and night as long as we were watching the sheep near them. 17Now, consider what you should do because our master and his whole household are doomed. And he’s such a worthless man that it’s useless to talk to him.”
18So Abigail quickly took 200 loaves of bread, 2 full wineskins, 5 butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys. 19“Go on ahead,” she told her young men, “and I’ll follow you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal about it.
20She was riding on her donkey down a hidden mountain path when she met David and his men coming toward her. 21David had thought, “I guarded this man’s stuff in the desert for nothing! Not one of his possessions was missing. Yet, he has paid me back with evil when I was good to him. 22May God punish me #25:22 Greek; Masoretic Text “To David’s enemies.” if I leave even one of his men #25:22 Hebrew uses a coarse term for “men” here and at verse 34. alive in the morning.”
23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey. She immediately bowed down in front of David with her face touching the ground. 24After she bowed at his feet, she said, “Sir, let me be held responsible for this wrong. Please let me speak with you. Please listen to my words. 25You shouldn’t take this worthless person Nabal seriously. He is like his name. His name is Nabal [Godless Fool], and he’s foolish. But I didn’t see the young men you sent.
26“The Lord has kept you from spilling innocent blood and from getting a victory by your own efforts. Now, sir, I solemnly swear, as the Lord and you live, may your enemies and those who are trying to harm you end up like Nabal. 27Here is a gift I am bringing to you. May it be given to the young men who are in your service. 28Please forgive my offense. The Lord will certainly give you, sir, a lasting dynasty, because you are fighting the Lord’s battles. May evil never be found in you as long as you live. 29Even though someone pursued you and sought your life, your life is wrapped in the bundle of life which comes from the Lord your God. But he will dispose of the lives of your enemies like stones thrown from a sling. 30When the Lord does all the good he promised and makes you ruler of Israel, 31you shouldn’t have a troubled conscience because you spilled blood for no good reason and claimed your own victory. When the Lord has given you success, remember me.”
32David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me. 33May your good judgment be blessed. Also, may you be blessed for keeping me from slaughtering people today and from getting a victory by my own efforts. 34But I solemnly swear—as the Lord God of Israel, who has kept me from harming you, lives—if you hadn’t come to meet me quickly, Nabal certainly wouldn’t have had one of his men left at dawn.”
35Then David accepted what she brought him and told her, “Go home in peace. I’ve listened to what you’ve said and granted your request.”
36When Abigail came to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his home. It was like a king’s banquet. He was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything until dawn. 37But in the morning, when the effects of the wine had worn off, his wife told him what had happened. Nabal’s heart failed, and he could not move. 38About ten days later the Lord made him even more sick, and Nabal died.
39When David heard Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who defended me against the insults of Nabal and kept me from doing wrong. The Lord has turned Nabal’s own wickedness back on him.”
Then David sent men ⌞on his behalf⌟ to propose marriage to Abigail. 40When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they told her, “David has sent us to you so that we can take you to him to be his wife.”
41She bowed down with her face touching the ground. “I am ready to serve,” she said. “I am ready to wash the feet of my master’s servants.” 42Then Abigail quickly got up and rode on a donkey with five of her female servants following her. So she went with David’s messengers and became his wife.
43David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. Both she and Abigail were his wives. 44Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti, Laish’s son, who was from Gallim.
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