1 Samuel 25

Modern

Literal

The Death of Samuel

¹When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.

Then David set out and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.^a

¹And Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and lamented for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

David, Nabal, and Abigail

²Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

²And there was a man in Maon, and his work was in Carmel. And the man was very rich, and He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

³His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

³And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance, and the man was harsh and evil in his deeds; and he was a Calebite.

⁴While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

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

⁵So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

⁵And David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask of his welfare in my name.

⁶and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and to your house and to all that belongs to you.

⁶And you shall say thus: ‘To life! And to you peace, and to your house peace, and to all that is unto you, peace!

⁷Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

⁷And I have heard that shearers are unto you. Now the shepherds that are unto you were with us. We did not hurt them, nor was there missing anything from them all the days they were in Carmel.

⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can spare to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. And let my young men find favor in your eyes, for on a good day we come. Give, please, whatever your hand finds to your servants, and to your son David.’”

⁹When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.

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

¹⁰But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

¹⁰And Nabal answered the servants of David, and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today there are many servants who break away, a man from the face of his master.

¹¹Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

¹¹And shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from?”

¹²So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.

¹²And the young men of David turned to their way, and went back, and they came and declared to him according to all these words.

¹³And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men strapped on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

¹³And David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” And every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And went with David about four hundred men, and two hundred stayed with the vessels.

¹⁴Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.

¹⁴And to Abigail wife of Nabal a young man, one of the young men, declared, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he reviled them.

¹⁵Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.

¹⁵And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything all the days we accompanied them when we were in the fields.

¹⁶They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.

¹⁶They were a wall for us, both by night and by day, all the days we were with them pasturing the sheep.

¹⁷Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”

¹⁷And now know and consider what you will do. For harm is determined against our master and against all his house. And he is too much a son of worthlessness to speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes for Nabal

¹⁸Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain,^a a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys

¹⁸And Abigail hurried, and took two hundred loaves of bread, and two skins of wine, and five sheep already dressed, and five seahs of roasted grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and she put them on the donkeys.

¹⁹and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

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

²⁰As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

²⁰And it came to pass as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the mountain, and behold, David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them.

²¹Now David had just said, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good.

²¹And David had said, “Surely in vain I have kept all that was unto this one in the wilderness, and not anything was missed of all that was unto him. And he has repaid me evil for good.

²²May God punish David,^a and ever so severely, if I let one male belonging to Nabal survive until morning.”

²²And may God do to David, and thus may he add, if I leave of all who are unto him by the morning light one who urinates against the wall.”

²³When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.

²³And Abigail saw David, and she hurried and dismounted from the donkey, and she fell before the face of David on her face and she bowed herself to the earth,

²⁴She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.

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

²⁵My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal,^a for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

²⁵Let not, please, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, upon Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. And I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

²⁶Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

²⁶And now my lord, as YHWH lives, and as your soul lives, since YHWH has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, let now your enemies be as Nabal and those seeking harm against my lord.

²⁷Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

²⁷And this blessing that your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow at the feet of my lord.

²⁸Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

²⁸Forgive, please, the trespass of your maidservant, for YHWH will surely make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of YHWH, and evil is not found in you throughout your days.

²⁹And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.^a

²⁹And a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, and the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with YHWH your God. And the souls of your enemies He shall sling out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.

³⁰When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,

³⁰And it shall come to pass, when YHWH has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel,

³¹then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your servant.”

³¹that this to you will not be grief and offense of heart—to my lord—that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself, and YHWH shall have dealt well with my lord, and remember your maidservant.”

³²Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!

³²And David said to Abigail, “Blessed is YHWH, God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me.

³³Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

³³And blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand.

³⁴Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

³⁴Yet as lives YHWH, God of Israel, who has kept me back from hurting you, surely unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light one who urinates against the wall.”

³⁵Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

³⁵And David received from her hand what she had brought to him, and he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice and I have lifted up your face.”

³⁶When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

³⁶And Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And the heart of Nabal was glad within him, and he was very drunk; therefore she told him not a thing small to great until the morning light.

³⁷In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him, and he became like a stone.

³⁷And it was in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him and he became a stone.

³⁸About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

³⁸And it was in about ten days that YHWH struck Nabal, and he died.

David Marries Abigail

³⁹On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

³⁹And David heard that Nabal was dead, and he said, “Blessed be YHWH, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil. For the wickedness of Nabal YHWH has returned on his own head.” And David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her to him as wife.

⁴⁰When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

⁴⁰And the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, “David sent us to you to take you to him as wife.”

⁴¹She arose, bowed facedown, and said, “Here is your servant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

⁴¹And she arose and bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”

⁴²So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

⁴²And Abigail hurried and rose, and rode on a donkey, and five of her maidens were going at her feet, and she followed after the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

⁴³And also Ahinoam David took from Jezreel, and became even both unto him for wives.

⁴⁴But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti^a son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

⁴⁴And Saul had given Michal his daughter, wife of David, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.