1 Samuel 25

Samuel’s Death

11Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and 2mourned for him, and 3buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the 4wilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

2Now there was a man in 5Maon whose business was in 6Carmel; and the man was very 7rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while 8he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3(now the man’s name was Nabal, and his 9wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was 10intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was 11a Calebite), 4that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, 12visit Nabal and greet him in my name; 6and thus you shall say, ‘13Have a long life, 14peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7Now I have heard 15that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, 16nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel. 8Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on 17a 18festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

9When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name; then they waited. 10But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “19Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 11Shall I then 20take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men 21whose origin I do not know?” 12So David’s young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13David 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 22four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred 23stayed with the baggage.

14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to 2425greet our master, and he scorned them. 15Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not 26insulted, nor did we miss anything 27as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields. 1628They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. 17Now therefore, know and 29consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a 30worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

18Then Abigail hurried and 31took 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. 19She said to her young men, “32Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20It 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. 21Now 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 33returned me evil for good. 2234May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, 35if by morning I leave as much as one 36male of any who belong to him.”

23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David 37and bowed herself to the ground. 24She fell at his feet and said, “On me 38alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak 39to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25Please do not let my lord 40pay attention to this 41worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. 42Nabal 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 43shedding blood, and 44from 45avenging yourself by your own hand, now then 46let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. 27Now let 47this 48gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who 49accompany my lord. 28Please forgive 50the transgression of your maidservant; for 51the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is 52fighting the battles of the Lord, and 53evil will not be found in you all your days. 29Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your 54life, then the 55life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the 56lives of your enemies 57He will sling out 58as from the hollow of a sling. 30And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and 59appoints you ruler over Israel, 31this will not 60cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having 61avenged himself. 62When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

32Then David said to Abigail, “63Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, 64who have kept me this day from 65bloodshed and from 66avenging myself by my own hand. 34Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, 67who 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 68male.” 35So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “69Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to 70you and 7172granted your request.”

36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding 73a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, 74for he was very drunk; so 75she did not tell him anything 76at all until the morning light. 37But 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. 38About ten days later, 77the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

David Marries Abigail

39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has 78pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and 79has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent 8081a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40When 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.” 41She arose 82and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid 83to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42Then 84Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who 85attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43David had also taken Ahinoam of 86Jezreel, and 87they both became his wives.

44Now Saul had given 88Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from 89Gallim.