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1 Samuel 25
Brenton's English Septuagint · Berean Standard Bible
And Samuel died, and all Israel assembled, and bewailed him, and they bury him in his house in Armathaim: and David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Maon.
When 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 (note: Hebrew and some LXX manuscripts; other LXX manuscripts Maon).
And there was a man in Maon, and his flocks were in Carmel, and [he was] a very great man; and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand she-goats: and he happened to be shearing his flock in Carmel.
Now 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.
And the man's name [was] Nabal, and his wife's name [was] Abigaia: and his wife [was] of good understanding and very beautiful in person: but the man [was] harsh and evil in his doings, and the man [was] churlish.
His 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.
And David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal the Carmelite was shearing his sheep.
While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.
And David sent ten young men, and he said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name how he is.
So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name
And thus shall ye say, May thou and thy house seasonably prosper, and all thine be in prosperity.
and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and to your house and to all that belongs to you.
And now, behold, I have heard that thy shepherds who were with us in the wilderness are shearing thy sheep, and we hindered them not, neither did we demand any thing from them all the time they were in Carmel.
Now 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.
Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Let then thy servants find grace in thine eyes, for we are come on a good day; give, we pray thee, whatsoever thy hand may find, to thy son David.
Ask 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.’”
So the servants come and speak these words to Nabal, according to all these words in the name of David.
When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.
And Nabal sprang up, and answered the servants of David, and said, Who [is] David? and who [is] the son of Jessæ? now-a-days there is abundance of servants who depart every one from his master.
But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
And shall I take my bread, and my wine, and my beasts that I have slain for my shearers, and shall I give them to men of whom I know not whence they are?
Why 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?”
So the servants of David turned back, and returned, and came and reported to David according to these words.
So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.
And David said to his men, Gird on every man his sword. And they went up after David, about four hundred men: and two hundred abode with the stuff.
And 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.
And one of the servants reported to Abigaia the wife of Nabal, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our lord; but he turned away from them.
Meanwhile, 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.
And the men were very good to us; they did not hinder us, neither did they demand from us any thing all the days that we were with them.
Yet 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.
And when we were in the field, they were as a wall round about us, both by night and by day, all the days that we were with them feeding the flock.
They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.
And now do thou consider, and see what thou wilt do; for mischief is determined against our lord and against his house; and he [is] a vile character, and one cannot speak to him.
Now 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!”
And Abigaia hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five ephahs of fine flour, and one homer of dried grapes, and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them upon asses.
Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain (note: 5 seahs is approximately 33 dry quarts or 36.5 liters of roasted grain.), a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys
And she said to her servants, Go on before me, and behold I come after you: but she told not her husband.
and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
And it came to pass when she had mounted her ass and was going down by the covert of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down to meet her, and she met them.
As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.
And David said, Perhaps I have kept all his possessions in the wilderness that he should wrong me, and we did not order the taking any thing of all his goods; yet he has rewarded me evil for good.
Now 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.
So God do to David and more also, if I leave one male of all that belong to Nabal until the morning.
May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one male belonging to Nabal survive until morning.”
And Abigaia saw David, and she hasted, and alighted from her ass; and she fell before David on her face, and did obeisance to him, [bowing] to the ground
When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.
[even] to his feet, and said, On me, my lord, be my wrong: let, I pray thee, thy servant speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy servant.
She 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.
Let not my lord, I pray thee, take to heart this pestilent man, for according to his name, so is he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the servants of my lord whom thou didst send.
My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal (note: Nabal means fool.), 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.
And now, my lord, [as] the Lord lives, and thy soul lives, as the Lord has kept thee from coming against innocent blood, and from executing vengeance for thyself, now therefore let thine enemies, and those that seek evil against my lord, become as Nabal.
Now, 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.
And now accept this token of goodwill, which thy servant has brought to my lord, and thou shalt give it to the servants that wait on my lord.
Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.
Remove, I pray thee, the trespass of thy servant; for the Lord will surely make for my lord a sure house, for the Lord fights the battles of my lord, and there shall no evil be ever found in thee.
Please 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.
And [if] a man shall rise up persecuting thee and seeking thy life, yet shall the life of my lord be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord God, and thou shalt whirl the life of thine enemies [as] in the midst of a sling.
And 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 (note: Literally fling away the souls of your enemies as from the pocket of a sling).
And it shall be when the Lord shall have wrought for my lord all the good things he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee to be ruler over Israel;
When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,
then this shall not be an abomination and offence to my lord, to have shed innocent blood without cause, and for my lord to have avenged himself: and so may the Lord do good to my lord, and thou shalt remember thine handmaid to do her good.
then 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.”
And David said to Abigaia, Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel, who sent thee this very day to meet me:
Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!
and blessed [be] thy conduct, and blessed [be] thou, who hast hindered me this very day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself.
Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.
But surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who hindered me this day from doing thee harm, if thou hadst not hasted and come to meet me, then I said, There shall [surely] not be left to Nabal till the morning one male.
Otherwise, 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.”
And David took of her hand all that she brought to him, and said to her, Go in peace to thy house: see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accepted thy petition.
Then 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.”
And Abigaia came to Nabal: and, behold, he had a banquet in his house, as the banquet of a king, and the heart of Nabal [was] merry within him, and he [was] very drunken: and she told him nothing great or small till the morning light.
When 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.
And it came to pass in the morning, when Nabal recovered from his wine, his wife told him these words; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
In 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.
And it came to pass after about ten days, that the Lord smote Nabal, and he died.
About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.
And David heard it and said, Blessed [be] the Lord, who has judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and has delivered his servant from the power of evil; and the Lord has returned the mischief of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and spoke concerning Abigaia, to take her to himself for a wife.
On 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.
So the servants of David came to Abigaia to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife.
When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”
And she arose, and did reverence with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thy servant [is] for an handmaid to wash the feet of thy servants.
She arose, bowed facedown, and said, “Here is your servant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”
And Abigaia arose, and mounted her ass, and five damsels followed her: and she went after the servants of David, and became his wife.
So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.
And David took Achinaam out of Jezrael, and they were both his wives.
David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.
And Saul gave Melchol his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Amis who was of Romma.
But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti (note: Palti is a variant of Paltiel; see 2 Samuel 3:15.) son of Laish, who was from Gallim.