1 Samuel 25
25
1And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.
2And [there is] a man in Maon, and his work [is] in Carmel; and the man [is] very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel.
3And the name of the man [is] Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman [is] of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man [is] hard and evil [in] doings; and he [is] a Calebite.
4And David heareth in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock,
5and David sendeth ten young men, and David saith to the young men, ‘Go ye up to Carmel, and ye have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare,
6and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast — peace!
7and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.
8‘Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.’
9And the young men of David come in, and speak unto Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David — and rest.
10And Nabal answereth the servants of David and saith, ‘Who [is] David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master;
11and I have taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given [it] to men whom I have not known whence they [are]!’
12And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all these words.
13And David saith to his men, ‘Gird ye on each his sword;’ and they gird on each his sword, and David also girdeth on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels.
14And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, ‘Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them;
15and the men [are] very good to us, and have not put us to shame, and we have not looked after anything all the days we have gone up and down with them, in our being in the field;
16a wall they have been unto us both by night and by day, all the days of our being with them, feeding the flock.
17‘And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he [is] too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.’
18And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth [them] on the asses.
19And she saith to her young men, ‘Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;’ and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared [it];
20and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them.
21And David said, ‘Only, in vain I have kept all that this [one] hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;
22thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning — of those sitting on the wall.’
23And Abigail seeth David, and hasteth and cometh down from off the ass, and falleth before David on her face, and boweth herself to the earth,
24and falleth at his feet and saith, ‘On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray thee, thy handmaid speak in thine ear, and hear the words of thy handmaid.
25‘Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name [is] so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send;
26and now, my lord, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Jehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee — now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.
27‘And, now, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord — it hath been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord.
28‘Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee [all] thy days.
29And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.
30‘And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel,
31that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord — either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.’
32And David saith to Abigail, ‘Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me,
33and blessed [is] thy discretion, and blessed [art] thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself.
34And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.’
35And David receiveth from her hand that which she hath brought to him, and to her he hath said, ‘Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accept thy face.’
36And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal [is] glad within him, and he [is] drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning.
37And it cometh to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declareth to him these things, and his heart dieth within him, and he hath been as a stone.
38And it cometh to pass, [in] about ten days, that Jehovah smiteth Nabal, and he dieth,
39and David heareth that Nabal [is] dead, and saith, ‘Blessed [is] Jehovah who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant hath kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal hath Jehovah turned back on his own head;’ and David sendeth and speaketh with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife.
40And the servants of David come in unto Abigail at Carmel, and speak unto her, saying, ‘David hath sent us unto thee to take thee to him for a wife.’
41And she riseth and boweth herself — face to the earth — and saith, ‘Lo, thy handmaid [is] for a maid-servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.’
42And Abigail hasteth and riseth, and rideth on the ass; and five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goeth after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife.
43And Ahinoam hath David taken from Jezreel, and they are — even both of them — to him for wives;
44and Saul gave Michal his daughter, wife to David, to Phalti son of Laish, who [is] of Gallim.
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1 Samuel 25: YLT98
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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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