FIRST
SAMUEL
1 Samuel Chapter
25
1
¶ When Samuel died; all the Israelites gathered together, and lamented him, and
buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the
wilderness of Paran.
2
¶ And there was a very rich man in Maon, whose property was in
3
Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and
she was a woman of good understanding, intelligent and beautiful: 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 was shearing his sheep.
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So David sent out ten young men, and said to them, Go up to
6
Then say to him, Peace be to you, and to your house, and to all that you
have.
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I have heard that you are shearing: now we did no harm to your shepherds when
they were with us, and nothing of theirs was missing, all the time they were in
Carmel.
8
Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find
favor in your sight: for we have come at a time of feasting: please give
whatever is convenient to your servants, and to your son David.
9
And when David’s young men came, they said all these things to Nabal on David’s
behalf, and waited.
10
And Nabal asked them, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse?
there are many slaves nowadays who run away from their master.
11
Am I supposed to take my bread and water, and the meat that I have killed for
my shearers, and give it to men, who are from I do not know where?
12
¶ So David’s young men turned away, and went back and told him all that was
said.
13
And David said to his men, All of you put on your swords. And each man strapped
on his sword; and David also put on his sword: and about four hundred men
followed David up; while two hundred remained by the baggage.
14
But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Look, David sent
messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; but he yelled at them.
15
However the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor was
anything of ours missing, the whole time we were living among them, when we
were in the fields:
16
They were a wall around us both by night and day, all the time we were with
them keeping the sheep.
17
Therefore knowing this consider carefully what you will 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 talk to him.
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¶ Then Abigail hurried, and took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five
butchered sheep, five measures of parched grain, a hundred clusters of
raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
19
And she said to her servants, Go on ahead of me; I will follow you. But she did
not tell her husband Nabal.
20
And as she rode on her donkey, she came down under cover of the hill,
and, David and his men came down opposite her; and she met them.
21
Now David had said, I certainly wasted my time guarding everything that this man
had in the wilderness, so that nothing that belonged to him was missing: for he
has repaid me evil for good.
22
May God do so and more to the enemies of David, if by morning I leave any alive
of all belonging to him who urinate against a wall.
23
And when Abigail saw David, she hurried, and got off her donkey, and fell on
her face before David, and bowed to the ground,
24
And kneeling at his feet, said, The guilt is mine, my lord, mine alone:
please let your handmaid, speak in your presence, and hear the words of your
handmaid.
25
Let my master pay no attention, I beg of you, to this man of Belial, known
as Nabal: for as his name means fool, so he is; Nabal is
his name, and folly is with him: but I your handmaid did not see the
young men, whom you sent.
26
Now my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, it is the
LORD who has stopped you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself
with your own hand, now let your enemies, and those who seek to do evil to my
lord, be as Nabal.
27
And now let this present which your handmaid has brought to my lord, be given
to the young men who follow my lord.
28
I beg you, forgive the offence of your handmaid: for the LORD will certainly
make my lord a lasting house; because my lord is fighting the LORD’S battles,
and evil has not been found in you all your days.
29
Though a man rises up to pursue you, and to seek your life: my lord’s life will
be kept safe in the place where the LORD your God protects the living; but he
will cast away the lives of your enemies, like stones from a sling.
30
And when the LORD does for my lord all the good that he has promised concerning
you, and has made you ruler over Israel;
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Then my lord will have no remorse, or a troubled conscience, either because you
have shed blood without cause, or because you have avenged yourself: but when
the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid.
32
¶ And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent
you this day to meet me:
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And blessed be your advice, and may you be blessed, who have kept
me this day from shedding blood, and from avenging myself with my own
hand.
34
For as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me from hurting you,
if you had not hurried to come and meet me, no one around Nabal who urinates
against a wall would have been left alive by morning.
35
So David received from her all that she had brought him, and said to her, Go up
in peace to your house; I have listened to what you had to say, and have
granted your petition.
36
¶ Then Abigail went to Nabal; and, he was holding a feast in his house, like
the feast of a king; and his heart was merry, for he was very
drunk: so she did not tell him anything at all, until morning.
37
But in the morning, when Nabal had sobered up, and his wife had told him what
had happened, his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38
And about ten days later, the LORD smote Nabal, so that he died.
39
And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD,
who has pleaded the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and kept his
servant from evil: for the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his
own head. Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail, about marrying
him.
40
And when the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to
her, saying, David sent us to you, to take you to him to be his wife.
41
And she got up, and bowed herself to the earth, and said, Behold, let
your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42
Then Abigail got up quickly, and with five servant girls who went with her,
rode on a donkey; following David’s messengers, and became his wife.
43
David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were both his wives.
44
But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of
Laish, who was from Gallim.