1 Samuel 25

Samuel’s Death

11Then Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and 2mourned for him, and they 3buried him at his house in Ramah. And David set out 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 and 12visit Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6and this is what you shall say: ‘13Have a long life, 14peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7Now then, I have heard 15that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, 16nor has anything of theirs gone missing 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 in accordance with 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 made their way back and returned; and they came and informed him in accordance with all these words. 13Then David said to his men, “Each of you strap on his sword.” So each man strapped on his sword. And David also strapped on his sword, and about 22four hundred men went up behind David, while two hundred 23stayed with the baggage.

14Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to 2425greet our master, and he spoke to them in anger. 15Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not 26harmed, nor did anything go missing 27as long as we went 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 then, be aware and 29consider what you should do, because harm 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 cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she loaded them on donkeys. 19Then she said to her young men, “32Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20And it happened 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, “It is certainly for nothing that I have guarded everything that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing has gone missing of all that belonged to him! For he has 33returned me evil for good. 2234May God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, 35if by morning I leave alive 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 in front of 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 slave speak 39to you, and listen to the words of your slave. 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 stupidity is with him; but I your slave did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

26“Now then, 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, 46may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal. 27And now let 47this 48gift which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who 49accompany my lord. 28Please forgive 50the offense of your slave; for 51the Lord will certainly make for my lord an 52enduring house, because my lord is 53fighting the battles of the Lord, and 54evil will not be found in you all your days. 29Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your 55life, then the 56life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the 57lives of your enemies 58He will sling out 59as from the hollow of a sling. 30And when the Lord does for my lord in accordance with all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and 60appoints you ruler over Israel, 31this will not become an obstacle to you, or a 61troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having 62avenged himself. 63When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

32Then David said to Abigail, “64Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, 65who have kept me this day from 66bloodshed and from 67avenging myself by my own hand. 34Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, 68who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, there certainly would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one 69male.” 35So David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “70Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to 71you and 7273granted your request.”

36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having 74a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, 75for he was very drunk; so 76she did not tell him anything 77at 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 like a stone. 38About ten days later, 78the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

David Marries Abigail

39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has 79pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and 80has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent 8182a 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 to him as his wife.” 41And she got up 83and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant 84to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42Then 85Abigail got up quickly, and rode on a donkey, with her five female attendants who 86accompanied her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43David had also taken Ahinoam of 87Jezreel, and 88they both became his wives.

44But Saul had given his daughter 89Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from 90Gallim.