1 Samuel 25
25
The Death of Samuel
1 # ch. 28:3 Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled #Gen. 50:10; [Num. 20:29; Deut. 34:8] and mourned for him, and they buried him #[1 Kgs. 2:34] in his house at #ch. 1:19 Ramah.
David and Abigail
Then David rose and went down to #Num. 10:12the wilderness of Paran. 2And there was a man in #ch. 23:24 Maon whose business was in #Josh. 15:55 Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. #[Gen. 38:13; 2 Sam. 13:23]He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 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; #[ch. 30:14]he was a Calebite. 4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal #[See ver. 2 above]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 greet him in my name. 6And thus you shall greet him: #[1 Chr. 12:18; Matt. 10:13; Luke 10:5]‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, #ver. 15, 21and they missed nothing 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 eyes, for we come #Esth. 8:17; 9:19, 22on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
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, #[Judg. 9:28] “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? #[Judg. 12:4]There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11Shall I take #[Judg. 8:6] my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to #[ch. 22:2]men who come from I do not know where?” 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 #ch. 23:13; 27:2; [ch. 22:2] about four hundred men went up after David, #ch. 23:13; 27:2; [ch. 22:2] while two hundred #ch. 30:24remained with the baggage.
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, #ver. 7, 21and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16They were #[Job 1:10]a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, #[ch. 20:7] for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such #Deut. 13:13a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs#25:18 A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters 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, #ver. 7, 15 so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has #Ps. 109:5; [Prov. 17:13]returned me evil for good. 22#See Ruth 1:17God do so to the enemies of David#25:22 Septuagint to David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
23When Abigail saw David, she hurried #Josh. 15:18; Judg. 1:14; [Gen. 24:64] and got down from the donkey #ver. 41; Ruth 2:10and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24She fell at his feet and said, #[2 Sam. 14:9]“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25Let not my lord regard #[See ver. 17 above]this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal#25:25 Nabal means fool is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26Now then, my lord, #See ch. 20:3 as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because #[Gen. 20:6] the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from #[Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30] saving with your own hand, now then #[2 Sam. 18:32]let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27And now let this #ch. 30:26; Gen. 33:11; [2 Kgs. 5:15]present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord #1 Kgs. 11:38; [ch. 2:35; 2 Sam. 7:11, 27; 1 Kgs. 9:5; 1 Chr. 17:10, 25] a sure house, because my lord #ch. 18:17is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 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 #Jer. 10:18he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 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#25:30 Or leader over Israel, 31my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord #[See ver. 26 above]working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
32And David said to Abigail, #Gen. 24:27; Ps. 41:13; 72:18; Luke 1:68“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, #[See ver. 26 above] who have kept me this day from bloodguilt #[See ver. 26 above]and from working salvation with my own hand! 34For as surely #See Ruth 3:13 as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, #[See ver. 26 above]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.” 35Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, #See ch. 1:17“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
36And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, #[2 Sam. 13:23] he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart #[2 Sam. 13:28; 1 Kgs. 21:7] was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing #ch. 22:15at all until the morning light. 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 #ch. 26:10the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, #[See ver. 32 above] “Blessed be the Lord who has #See ch. 24:15 avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, #ver. 26, 33, 34 and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. #1 Kgs. 2:44; [Ps. 7:16; Ezek. 17:19] The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and #[Song 8:8]spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 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 #[Ruth 2:10]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.” 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 #Josh. 15:56 Jezreel, #ch. 27:3; 30:5; 2 Sam. 2:2; 3:2, 3; 1 Chr. 3:1and both of them became his wives. 44Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 25
25
David and Nabal the Fool
1Samuel died. All the Israelites met together and mourned his death. They buried him at his home in Ramah.
Then David moved to the desert of Maon.#25:1 Maon This is from the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “Paran.” 2There was a very rich man living in Maon. He had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats. That man was in Carmel taking care of some business. He went there to cut the wool from his sheep. 3This man’s name was Nabal.#25:3 Nabal This name means “foolish.” He was from Caleb’s family. Nabal’s wife was named Abigail. She was a wise and beautiful woman, but Nabal was a mean and cruel man.
4David was in the desert when he heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. 5David sent ten young men to talk to Nabal. He told them, “Go to Carmel. Find Nabal and tell him ‘Hello’ for me.” 6David gave them this message for Nabal: “May you and your family be well and all that you own be well. 7I heard that you are cutting wool from your sheep. Your shepherds were with us for a while, and we did nothing wrong to them. We never took anything from your shepherds while they were at Carmel. 8Ask your servants and they will tell you this is true. Please be kind to my young men. We come to you now, at this happy time. Please give these young men anything you can. Please do this for me, your friend#25:8 friend Literally, “son.” David.”
9David’s men went to Nabal. They gave his message to Nabal, 10but Nabal said, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? There are many slaves who have run away from their masters these days. 11I have bread and water, and I have the meat I killed for my servants who cut the wool from my sheep. But I won’t give them to men I don’t even know.”
12David’s men went back and told him everything that Nabal had said. 13David’s response was, “Put on your swords.” So David and his men put on their swords. About 400 men went with David while 200 of them stayed with the supplies.
Abigail Prevents Trouble
14One of Nabal’s servants spoke to Nabal’s wife Abigail. The servant said, “David sent messengers from the desert to meet our master, but Nabal was rude to them. 15These men were very good to us while we were out in the fields with the sheep. David’s men were with us the whole time, and they never did anything wrong to us. They did not take anything from us. 16His men protected us night and day. They were like a wall around us—they protected us while we were with them caring for the sheep. 17Nabal was foolish to say what he did. Terrible trouble is coming to our master and all his family. You need to think of something to do.”
18Abigail quickly gathered up 200 loaves of bread, two full wine bags, five cooked sheep, about a bushel#25:18 about a bushel Literally, “5 seahs” (36.5 l). of cooked grain, about 2 quarts#25:18 about 2 quarts Literally, “1 omer” (2.2 l). of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs. She put them on donkeys. 19Then Abigail told her servants, “Go on. I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband.
20Abigail rode her donkey down to the other side of the mountain. She met David and his men coming from the other direction.
21David was saying, “I protected Nabal’s property in the desert. I made sure not one of his sheep was missing. I did all that for nothing. I was good to him, but he was rude to me. 22I swear,#25:22 I swear Literally, “May God do so and so for David’s enemies if ….” I won’t let even one man in Nabal’s family live until tomorrow morning.”
23Just then Abigail arrived. When she saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down with her face to the ground in front of him. 24Abigail fell at his feet and said, “Sir, please let me talk to you. Listen to what I say. Blame me for what happened. 25I didn’t see the men you sent. Sir, don’t pay any attention to that worthless man, Nabal. His name means ‘Foolish,’ and that is what he is. 26The Lord has kept you from killing innocent people. As surely as the Lord lives and you as well, may your enemies and anyone else who wants to harm you be as cursed as Nabal is. 27Now, I am bringing this gift to you. Please give these things to your men. 28Please forgive me for doing wrong. I know the Lord will make your family strong because you fight his battles. People will never find anything bad about you as long as you live. 29If someone chases you to kill you, the Lord your God will save your life. But he will throw away your enemies like a stone from a sling. 30The Lord promised to do many good things for you, and he will keep his promises. He will make you leader over Israel. 31So don’t do anything that would make you guilty of killing innocent people. Please don’t fall into that trap. Please remember me when the Lord blesses you.”
32David answered Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. Praise God for sending you to meet me. 33God bless you for your good judgment. You kept me from killing innocent people today. 34As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, if you hadn’t come quickly to meet me, not one man in Nabal’s family would have lived until tomorrow morning. But the Lord prevented me from hurting you.”
35Then David accepted Abigail’s gifts. He told her, “Go home in peace. I have listened to your request, and I will do what you asked.”
Nabal’s Death
36Abigail went back to Nabal, who was in the house. He had been eating like a king, and he was drunk and feeling good. So Abigail told Nabal nothing until the next morning. 37The next morning, Nabal was sober, so his wife told him everything. He had a heart attack and became as stiff as a rock. 38About ten days later, the Lord gave him a stroke and Nabal died.
39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise the Lord! He judged Nabal to be wrong for insulting me and kept me from doing something wrong. The Lord made Nabal pay for what he did.”
Then David sent a message to Abigail and asked her to be his wife. 40His servants went to Carmel with this message, “David sent us to get you. He wants you to be his wife.”
41Abigail bowed her face to the ground. She said, “I am willing to be your slave woman, even if it is only to wash the feet of my master’s servants.”
42Abigail quickly got on a donkey and brought five of her maids with her. They followed David’s messengers. So Abigail became David’s wife. 43David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. Both Ahinoam and Abigail were David’s wives. 44David was also married to Saul’s daughter Michal, but Saul had taken her away from him and had given her to a man named Palti, son of Laish. Palti was from the town named Gallim.
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