1 Samuel 25

¹ And Samuel died. And all the Israelites were gathered, and lamented him and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

² And a certain man [was] in Maon, and his work [was] in Carmel. And the man [was] very great, and [had] three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

³ And the man's name [was] Nabal, and his wife's name [was] Abigail. And [she was] a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful form. But the man [was] cruel and evil in his dealings. And he [was] of Caleb.

⁴ And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

⁵ And David sent out ten young men. And David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.

⁶ And you shall say this, Long life and peace [be] to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have.

⁷ And now I have heard that you have shearers. And we did not hurt your shepherds who were with us; neither was there anything missing to them all the while they were in Carmel.

⁸ Ask your young men, and they will tell you. And let the young men find favor in your eyes, for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.

⁹ And David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and stopped.

¹⁰ And Nabal answered David's servants and said, Who [is] David? And who [is] the son of Jesse? The servants who have broken away, each man from his master, have multiplied.

¹¹ Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] to men about whom I know not where they come from?

¹² And David's young men turned their way and went again, and came and told him all those things.

¹³ And David said to his men, Let each man gird on his sword. And they each one girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, and two hundred stayed by the stuff.

¹⁴ And one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold! David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he screamed at them.

¹⁵ But the men [were] very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither did we miss anything as long as we were going to and fro among them, when we were in the fields.

¹⁶ They were a wall to us both by night and day all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

¹⁷ And now know and consider what you will do, for evil is determined against our master and against all his household. For he [is] a son of worthlessness, so that none can speak to him.

¹⁸ And Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of roasted [grain], and a hundred clusters of raisins, and laid them on asses.

¹⁹ And she said to her servants, Go on before me. Behold, I am coming after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ And it happened, she was riding on the ass and coming down under cover of the mountain. And behold, David and his men came down across from her. And she met them.

²¹ And David had said, Surely in vain I have kept all that belongs to this fellow in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that [was] his. And he has requited me evil for good.

²² So and more also may God do to the enemies of David, if I leave to the light of the morning any that [is] his of one who urinates against the wall.

²³ And Abigail saw David and hurried and dismounted from the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.

²⁴ And she fell at his feet and said, On me, my lord, [on] me let this iniquity [be]. And please let your handmaid speak in your ears, and hear the words of your handmaid.

²⁵ Please do not let my lord regard this man of worthlessness, Nabal. For as his name [is], so he [is]. Nabal [is] his name, and foolishness [is] with him. And I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.

²⁶ And now, my lord, [as] the LORD lives and [as] your soul lives, since the LORD has withheld you from coming to shed blood, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies, and those that seek to do evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷ And now this blessing which your handmaid has brought to my lord, let it even be given to the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸ Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For the LORD will certainly make a sure house for my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil has not been found in you [all] your days.

²⁹ Yet a man has risen to pursue you and to seek your soul. But the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD your God. And the souls of your enemies, He shall sling them from the hollow of a sling.

³⁰ And it shall be, when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and commanded you to [be] ruler over Israel,

³¹ this shall be no stumbling to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood for nothing, or [that] my lord has delivered himself. And may the LORD deal well with my lord, and you remember your handmaid.

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me.

³³ And blessed [is] your advice, and blessed [are] you who have kept me from coming to shed blood today, and from delivering myself [with] my own hand.

³⁴ And truly, [as] the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from doing evil to you, for unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light one who urinates against the wall.

³⁵ And David received from her hand that which she had brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and have accepted your person.

³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal. And behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart [was] merry within him, for he [was] very drunk. And she did not tell him anything, more or less, until the morning light.

³⁷ And it happened in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal and his wife had told him these things, his heart died within him and he became [like] a stone.

³⁸ And it happened about ten days [afterward] the LORD struck Nabal so that he died.

³⁹ And David heard that Nabal had died, and he said, Blessed [is] the LORD who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil. For the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head. And David sent and spoke with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife.

⁴⁰ And David's servants came to Abigail at Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David sent us to you to take you to him for a wife.

⁴¹ And she arose and bowed herself on [her] face to the earth, and said, Behold, [let] your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

⁴² And Abigail hurried and arose, and rode on an ass, with five of her maidens who went after her. And she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel. And they became, both of them, his wives.

⁴⁴ And Saul gave his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who [was] of Gallim.