1Sa 25 | NASB1995 | STEP | Then Samuel died ; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah . And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran .

‏ 1 Samuel 25

Samuel’s Death

1 ^aThen Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and ^bmourned for him, and ^cburied him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the ^dwilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

2 Now there was a man in ^eMaon whose business was in ^fCarmel; and the man was very ^{▼▼ Lit great}rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while ^hhe was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his ⁱwife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was ^{▼▼ Lit of good understanding}intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was ^ka Calebite), 4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, ^{▼▼ Lit go into}visit Nabal and greet him in my name; 6 and thus you shall say, ‘ ^{▼▼ Lit To life}Have a long life, ⁿpeace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 ‘Now I have heard ^othat you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, ^pnor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel. 8 ‘Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on ^qa ^{▼▼ Lit good}festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

9 When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name; then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, ^s“Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 11 “Shall I then ^ttake my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men ^{▼▼ Lit from where they are}whose origin I do not know?” 12 So David’s young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13 David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about ^vfour hundred men went up behind David while two hundred ^wstayed with the baggage.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to ^{▼▼ Lit bless
,} ^ygreet our master, and he scorned them. 15 “Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not ^zinsulted, nor did we miss anything ^{▼▼ Lit all the days}as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields. 16 ^ab“They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. 17 “Now therefore, know and ^{▼▼ Lit see}consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a ^{▼▼ Lit son of Belial}worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

18 Then Abigail hurried and ^aetook two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 She said to her young men, ^af“Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has ^agreturned me evil for good. 22 ^ah“May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, ^aiif by morning I leave as much as one ^{▼▼ Lit who urinates against the wall}male of any who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David ^akand bowed herself to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me ^{▼▼ Lit even me}alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak ^{▼▼ Lit in your ears}to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25 “Please do not let my lord ^{▼▼ Lit set his heart to}pay attention to this ^{▼▼ Lit man of Belial}worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. ^{▼▼ I.e. Fool}Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

26 “Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has restrained you from ^{▼▼ Lit coming in with blood}shedding blood, and ^arfrom ^{▼▼ Lit saving}avenging yourself by your own hand, now then ^atlet your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. 27 “Now let ^authis ^{▼▼ Lit blessing}gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who ^{▼▼ Lit walk at the feet of}accompany my lord. 28 “Please forgive ^axthe transgression of your maidservant; for ^aythe Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is ^azfighting the battles of the Lord, and ^baevil will not be found in you all your days. 29 “Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your ^{▼▼ Lit soul}life, then the ^{▼▼ Lit soul}life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the ^{▼▼ Lit soul}lives of your enemies ^beHe will sling out ^{▼▼ Lit in the midst}as from the hollow of a sling. 30 “And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and ^bgappoints you ruler over Israel, 31 this will not ^{▼▼ Lit become staggering to you or a stumbling of the heart}cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having ^{▼▼ Lit saved}avenged himself. ^bjWhen the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, ^bk“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33 and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, ^blwho have kept me this day from ^{▼▼ Lit coming in with blood}bloodshed and from ^{▼▼ Lit saving}avenging myself by my own hand. 34 “Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, ^bowho has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one ^{▼▼ Lit who urinates against the wall}male.” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, ^bq“Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to ^{▼▼ Lit your voice}you and ^{▼▼ Lit lifted up your face
,} ^btgranted your request.”

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding ^bua feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, ^bvfor he was very drunk; so ^bwshe did not tell him anything ^{▼▼ Lit small or large}at all until the morning light. 37 But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone. 38 About ten days later, ^bythe Lord struck Nabal and he died.

David Marries Abigail

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has ^bzpleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and ^cahas kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent ^{▼▼ Lit and spoke
,} ^cca proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.” 41 She arose ^cdand bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid ^ceto wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then ^cfAbigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who ^{▼▼ Lit walked at her feet}attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David had also taken Ahinoam of ^chJezreel, and ^cithey both became his wives.

44 Now Saul had given ^cjMichal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from ^ckGallim.