1 Samuel 25

Revised Geneva Translation

25 Then Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him and buried him in his own house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

² Now, there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. And the man was exceedingly mighty and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

³ Also, the name 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 harsh and evil in his endeavors. He was of the family of Caleb.

⁴ And in the wilderness, David heard that Nabal sheared his sheep.

⁵ Therefore, David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel. And go to Nabal and ask him, in my name, how he is doing.

⁶ “And you shall say this as a greeting, “Peace to you and your house and all that you have.

⁷ “Behold, I have heard that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor did they lose anything all the time they were in Carmel.

⁸ “Ask your servants and they will tell you. Therefore, let these young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a good day. Please give whatever comes to hand to your servants, and to your son David.”

⁹ And when David’s young men came, they told Nabal all those words in the name of David, and then held their peace.

¹⁰ Then, Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away, each 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 to men of whose origin I do not know?”

¹² So David’s servants turned their way and went back and came and told him all those things.

¹³ And David said to his men, “Every man gird his sword!” And every man girded his sword. David also girded his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, and two hundred stayed by the carriage.

¹⁴ Now, one of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master and he scorned them.

¹⁵ “Nevertheless, the men were very good to us and we had no displeasure. Nor did we lose anything while we were with them, when we were in the fields.

¹⁶ “They were as a wall to us, both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping sheep.

¹⁷ “Now, therefore, take heed and consider what you shall do. For evil 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 hurried and took two hundred cakes and two bottles of wine and five sheep, already dressed, and five measures of parched corn and a hundred clusters of raisins (and two hundred of figs) and laid them on donkeys.

¹⁹ Then she said to her servants, “Go before me! Behold, I will follow you.” Yet she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ And as she rode on her donkey, she came down by a secret place of the mountain. And behold, David and his men came down opposite her. And she met them.

²¹ And David said, “Indeed, for nothing have I kept all that this fellow had in the wilderness, so that nothing was lost of all that pertained to him. For he has requited me evil for good.

²² “This and more also may God do to the enemies of David if I leave any male that he has before the dawning of the day.”

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted her donkey, 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 please let your handmaid speak to you, and hear the words of your handmaid!

²⁵ “Please do not let my lord pay any attention to this wicked man, Nabal! For as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him. But I, your handmaid, 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 (the LORD Who has restrained you from coming to shed blood, and from avenging yourself your own hand), so now your enemies shall be as Nabal, and those who intend to do my lord evil.

²⁷ “And now, this blessing which your handmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸ “Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For the LORD will make my lord a sure House, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD. And no misery has been found in you in all your life.

²⁹ “Yet a man has risen up to persecute you, and to seek your soul. But the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD your God. And the soul of your enemies God shall 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 has promised you, and shall have made you ruler over Israel,

³¹ “then it shall be no grief to you, nor offense of mind to my lord, that he has either shed blood without cause or that my lord has not avenged himself. And when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, remember your handmaid.”

³² Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, Who sent you this day to meet me.

³³ “And blessed be your counsel, and blessed be you, who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and that I have not avenged myself by my own hand.

³⁴ “For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives (Who has restrained me from hurting you), except that you had hurried and met me, surely no male would have been left to Nabal by the dawning of the day.”

³⁵ Then David received from her hand that which she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have heard your voice and have granted your 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 drunk. Therefore, she told him nothing, neither less nor more, until the morning arose.

³⁷ Then, in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him those words. And his heart died within him. And he was like a stone.

³⁸ And about ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal, so that he died.

³⁹ Now when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, Who has judged the cause of my rebuke of the hand of Nabal and has kept His servant from evil! For the LORD has repaid the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head!” Also, David sent to commune with Abigail, to take her as his wife.

⁴⁰ And when the servants of David had come to Abigail, to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David sent us to you, to take you as his wife.”

⁴¹ And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, “Behold, let your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”

⁴² And Abigail hurried and arose and rode upon a donkey. And her five maids followed her. And she went after the messengers of David and was his wife.

⁴³ David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel. And they were both his wives.

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