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 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.