1 Samuel 25

¹ And Samuel dies, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David rises and goes down unto the wilderness of Paran. ² And [there is] a man in Maon, and his work [is] in Carmel; and the man [is] very great, and he has three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel. ³ And 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. ⁴ And David hears in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock, ⁵ and David sends ten young men, and David said to the young men, "Go you up to Carmel, and you have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare, ⁶ and said thus: To life! and you, peace; and your house, peace; and all that you have - peace! ⁷ and, now, I have heard that you have shearers; now, the shepherds whom you have have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor has anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men, and they declare to you, and the young men find grace in your eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray you, that which your hand finds, to your servants, and to your son, to David." ⁹ And the young men of David come in, and speak unto Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David - and rest. ¹⁰ And Nabal answers the servants of David and said, "Who [is] David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master; ¹¹ and 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]!" ¹² And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all these words. ¹³ And David said to his men, "Gird you on each his sword;" and they gird on each his sword, and David also girds on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels. ¹⁴ And to Abigail wife of Nabal has one young man of the youths declared, saying, "Lo, David has sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flies upon them; ¹⁵ and 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; ¹⁶ a 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 you do; for evil has been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he [is] too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to." ¹⁸ And Abigail hastes, and takes 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 sets [them] on the asses. ¹⁹ And she said to her young men, "Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming"; and to her husband Nabal she has not declared [it]; ²⁰ and it has 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 meets them. ²¹ And David said, "Only, in vain I have kept all that this [one] has in the wilderness, and nothing has been looked after of all that he has, and he turns back to me evil for good; ²² thus does Elohim do to the enemies of David, and thus He does add, if I leave of all that he has till the light of the morning - of those sitting on the wall." ²³ And Abigail sees David, and hastes and comes down from off the ass, and falls before David on her face, and bows herself to the earth, ²⁴ and falls at his feet and said, "On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray you, your handmaid speak in your ear, and hear the words of your handmaid. ²⁵ Let not, I pray you, 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, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom you did send; ²⁶ and now, my lord, Yahweh lives, and your soul lives, in that Yahweh has withheld you from coming in with blood, and to save your hand to you - now let your enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord. ²⁷ And, now, this blessing which your maid-servant has brought to my lord - it has been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord. ²⁸ Bear, I pray you, with the transgression of your handmaid, for Yahweh does certainly make to my lord a steadfast house; for the battles of Yahweh has my lord fought, and evil is not found in you [all] your days. ²⁹ And man rises to pursue you and to seek your soul, and the soul of my lord has been bound in the bundle of life with Yahweh your Elohim; as to the soul of your enemies, He does sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling. ³⁰ And it has been, when Yahweh does to my lord according to all the good which He has spoken concerning you, and appointed you for leader over Israel, ³¹ that this is not to you 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 Yahweh has done good to my lord, and you have remembered your handmaid." ³² And David said to Abigail, "Blessed [is] Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me, ³³ and blessed [is] your discretion, and blessed [are] you in that you have restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself. ³⁴ And yet, Yahweh lives, Elohim of Israel, who has kept me back from doing evil with you, for unless you hadst hasted, and do come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall." ³⁵ And David receives from her hand that which she has brought to him, and to her he has said, "Go up in peace to your house; see, I have hearkened to your voice, and accept your face." ³⁶ And Abigail comes in unto Nabal, and lo, he has 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 has not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning. ³⁷ And it comes to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declares to him these things, and his heart dies within him, and he has been as a stone. ³⁸ And it comes to pass, [in] about ten days, that Yahweh smites Nabal, and he dies, ³⁹ and David hears that Nabal [is] dead, and said, "Blessed [is] Yahweh who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant has kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal has Yahweh turned back on his own head"; and David sends and speaks with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife. ⁴⁰ And the servants of David come in unto Abigail at Carmel, and speak unto her, saying, "David has sent us unto you to take you to him for a wife." ⁴¹ And she rises and bows herself - face to the earth - and said, "Lo, your handmaid [is] for a maid-servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord." ⁴² And Abigail hastes and rises, and rides on the ass; and five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goes after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife. ⁴³ And Ahinoam has David taken from Jezreel, and they are - even both of them - to him for wives; ⁴⁴ and Saul gave Michal his daughter, wife to David, to Phalti son of Laish, who [is] of Gallim.