1 Samuel 25
1599 Geneva Bible
25 1 Samuel dieth. 3 Nabal and Abigail. 38 The Lord killeth Nabal. 43 Abigail and Ahinoam David’s wives. 44 Michal is given to Palti.
1 Then (A)Samuel died, and all Israel assembled, and mourned for him, and buried him in his [a]own house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 Now in [b]Maon was a man, who had his possession in Carmel, and the man was exceeding mighty, and had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3 The name also of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and she was a woman of singular wisdom, and beautiful, but the man was churlish, and evil conditioned, and was of the family of Caleb.
4 And David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5 Therefore David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name [c]how he doeth.
6 And thus shall ye say [d][e]for salutation, Both thou, and thine house, and all that thou hast, be in peace, wealth and prosperity.
7 Behold, I have heard, that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds were with us, and we did them no hurt, neither did they miss anything all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy servants, and they will show thee. Wherefore let these young men find favor in thine eyes: (for we come in a good season) give, I pray thee, whatsoever [f]cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 ¶ And when David’s young men came, they told Nabal all those words in the name of David, and held their peace.
10 Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the [g]son of Jesse? there be many servants nowadays, that break away every man from his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 ¶ So David’s servants turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those things.
13 And David said unto his men, Gird every man his sword about him. And they girded every man his sword: David also girded his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, and two hundred abode by the [h]carriage.
14 Now one of the servants told Abigail Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he [i]railed on them.
15 Notwithstanding, the men were very good [j]unto us, and we had no displeasure, neither missed we anything as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields.
16 They were as a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping sheep.
17 Now therefore take heed, and see what thou shalt do: for evil [k]will surely come upon our master, and upon all his family: for he is so wicked, that a man cannot speak to him.
18 ¶ Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred [l]cakes, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred [m]frails of raisins, and two hundred of figs, and laid them on asses.
19 Then she said unto her servants, Go ye before me: behold, I will come after you: yet she told not her [n]husband Nabal.
20 And as she rode on her ass, she came down by a secret place of the mountain, and behold, David and his men came down against her, and she met them.
21 And David said, Indeed I have kept all in vain that this fellow had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: for he hath requited me evil for good.
22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David: for surely I will not leave of all that he hath by the dawning of the day, any that [o]pisseth against the wall.
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Oh, my lord, I have committed the iniquity, and I pray thee, let thine handmaid speak [p]to thee, and hear thou the words of thine handmaid.
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this wicked man, Nabal: for as his name is, so is he: [q]Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord whom thou sentest.
26 Now therefore my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth (the Lord, I say, that hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and that thine [r]hand should not save thee) so now thine enemies shall be as Nabal, and they that intend to do my lord evil.
27 And now this [s]blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the young men, that [t]follow my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will make my lord a [u]sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and none evil hath been found in thee [v]in all thy life.
29 Yet [w]a man hath risen up to persecute thee, and to seek thy soul, but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the [x]bundle of life with the Lord thy God: and the soul of thine enemies shall God cast out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30 And when the Lord shall have done to my lord all the good that he hath promised thee, and shall have made thee ruler over Israel,
31 Then shall it be no grief unto thee, nor offence of mind unto my lord, that he hath not shed blood causeless, nor that my lord hath [y]not preserved himself: and when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, remember thine handmaid.
32 Then David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me.
33 And blessed be thy counsel, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, [z]and that mine hand hath not saved me.
34 For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, [aa]who hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and met me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the dawning of the day, any that pisseth against the wall.
35 Then David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to thine house: behold, I have heard thy voice, and have [ab]granted thy petition.
36 ¶ So Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he made a feast in his house, like the feast of a king, and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him [ac]nothing, neither less nor more, until the morning arose.
37 Then in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, his wife told him those words, and his heart died within him, and he was like [ad]a stone.
38 And about ten days after, the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.
39 ¶ Now when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath [ae]judged the cause of my rebuke of the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the Lord hath recompensed the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. Also David sent to commune with Abigail, to [af]take her to his wife.
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us to thee, to take thee to his wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, and her five maids [ag]followed her, and she went after the messengers of David, and was his wife.
43 David also took Ahinoam of (B)Jezreel, and they were both his wives.
44 Now Saul had given (C)Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, which was of [ah]Gallim.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 25:1 That is, among his own kindred.
- 1 Samuel 25:2 Maon and Carmel were cities in the tribe of Judah. Carmel the mountain was in Galilee.
- 1 Samuel 25:5 Hebrew, of peace.
- 1 Samuel 25:6 Some read, so mayest thou live in prosperity the next year, both thou, etc.
- 1 Samuel 25:6 Hebrew, for life.
- 1 Samuel 25:8 Whatsoever thou hast ready for us.
- 1 Samuel 25:10 Thus the covetous wretches instead of relieving the necessity of God’s children, used to revile their persons and condemn their cause.
- 1 Samuel 25:13 Hebrew, vessel.
- 1 Samuel 25:14 Hebrew, drove them away.
- 1 Samuel 25:15 When we kept our sheep in the wilderness of Paran.
- 1 Samuel 25:17 Hebrew, is accomplished.
- 1 Samuel 25:18 Hebrew, bread.
- 1 Samuel 25:18 Or, clusters.
- 1 Samuel 25:19 Because she knew his crooked nature, that he would rather have perished, than consented to her enterprise.
- 1 Samuel 25:22 Meaning by this proverb, that he would destroy both small and great.
- 1 Samuel 25:24 Hebrew, in thine ears.
- 1 Samuel 25:25 Or, fool.
- 1 Samuel 25:26 That is, that thou shouldest not be revenged of thine enemy.
- 1 Samuel 25:27 Or, present.
- 1 Samuel 25:27 Hebrew, walk at the feet.
- 1 Samuel 25:28 Confirm his Kingdom to his posterity.
- 1 Samuel 25:28 Hebrew, from thy days.
- 1 Samuel 25:29 To wit, Saul.
- 1 Samuel 25:29 God shall preserve thee long in his service, and destroy thine enemies.
- 1 Samuel 25:31 That he hath not avenged himself, which things would have tormented his conscience.
- 1 Samuel 25:33 Read verse 26.
- 1 Samuel 25:34 He attributeth it to the Lord’s mercy, and not to himself that he was stayed.
- 1 Samuel 25:35 Hebrew, received thy face.
- 1 Samuel 25:36 For he had no reason either to consider, or to give thanks for this great benefit of deliverance.
- 1 Samuel 25:37 For fear of the great danger.
- 1 Samuel 25:39 Or, revenged.
- 1 Samuel 25:39 For he had experience of her great godliness, wisdom and humility.
- 1 Samuel 25:42 Hebrew, went at her feet.
- 1 Samuel 25:44 Which was a place bordering on the country of the Moabites.
1 Samuel 25
King James Version
25 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.
15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.
21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
26 Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
34 For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.
44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.
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