1Sa 25 | EngLXX | STEP | And Samuel died, and all Israel assembled, and bewailed him, and they bury him in his housein Armathaim: and David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Maon.

1 Samuel 25

1 And Samuel died, and all Israel assembled, and bewailed him, and they bury him in his housein Armathaim: and David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Maon. 2 And there was a man in Maon, and his flocks were in Carmel, andhe was a very great man; and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand she-goats: and hehappened to be shearing his flock in Carmel. 3 And the man's namewas Nabal, and his wife's namewas Abigaia: and his wifewas of good understanding and very beautiful in person: but the manwas harsh, and evil in his doings, and the manwas churlish. 4 And David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal the Carmelite was shearing his sheep. 5 And David sent ten young men, and he said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go toNabal, and ask him in my name how he is. 6 And thus shall you⌃ say, May you and your house seasonably prosper, and all your be inprosperity. 7 And now, behold, I have heard that your shepherds who were with is in the wilderness areshearing your sheep, and we hindered them not, neither did we demand any thing from them all the timethey were in Carmel. 8 Ask your servants, and they will tell you. Let then your servants find grace in your eyes,for we are come on a good day; give we pray you, whatever your hand may find, to your son David. 9 So the servants come and speak these words to Nabal, according to all these words in thename of David. 10 And Nabal sprang up, and answered the servants of David, and said, Whois David? and whois the son of Jessae? Now-a-days there is abundance of servants who depart every one from hismaster. 11 And shall I take my bread, and my wine, and my beasts that I have slain for my shearers,and shall I give them to men of whom I know not whence they are? 12 So the servants of David turned back, and returned, and came and reported to David accordingto these words. 13 And David said to his men, Gird on every man his sword. And they went up after David,about four hundred men: and two hundred abode with the stuff. 14 And one of the servants reported to Abigaia the wife of Nabal, saying, Behold, Davidsent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our lord; but he turned away from them. 15 And the men were very good to us; they did not hinder us, neither did they demand fromus any thing all the days that we were with them. 16 And when we were in the field, they were as a wall round about us, both by night andby day, all the days that we were with them feeding the flock. 17 And now do you consider, and see what you will do; for mischief is determined againstour lord and against his house; and heis a vile character, and one can’t speak to him. 18 And Abigaia hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheepready dressed, and five ephahs of fine flour, and one homer of dried grapes, and two hundred cakes offigs, and put them upon asses. 19 And she said to her servants, Go on before me, and behold I come after you: but she toldnot her husband. 20 And it came to pass when she had mounted her ass and was going down by the covert ofthe mountain, behold, David and his men came down to meet her, and she met them. 21 And David said, Perhaps I have kept all his possessions in the wilderness that he shouldwrong me, and we did not order the taking anything of all his goods; yet he has rewarded me evil for good. 22 So God do to David and more also, if I leave one male of all that belong to Nabal untilthe morning. 23 And Abigaia saw David, and she hasted and alighted from her ass; and she felt beforeDavid on her face, and did obeisance to him,bowing to the ground 24 even to his feet, and said, On me, my lord, be my wrong: let, I pray you, your servant speakin your ears, and hear you the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord, I pray you, take to heart this pestilent man, for according to his name,so is he; Nabalis his name, and follyis with him: but I your handmaid saw not the servants of my lord whom you did send. 26 And now, my lord,as the Lord lives, and your soul lives, as the Lord has kept you from coming against innocentblood, and from executing vengeance for yourself, now therefore let your enemies, and those that seekevil against my lord, become as Nabal. 27 And now accept this token of goodwill, which your servant has brought to my lord, andyou shall give it to the servants that wait on my lord. 28 Remove, I pray you, the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will surely make for mylord a sure house, for the Lord fights the battles of my lord, and there shall no evil be ever found inyou. 29 Andif a man shall rise up persecuting you and seeking your life, yet shall the life of my lordbe bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord God, and you shall whirl the life of your enemiesas in the midst of a sling. 30 And it shall be when the Lord shall have wrought for my lord all the good things he hasspoken concerning you, and shall appoint you to be ruler over Israel; 31 then this shall not be an abomination and offence to my lord, to have shed innocent bloodwithout cause, and for my lord to have avenged himself: and so may the Lord do good to my lord, and youshall remember your handmaid to do her good. 32 And David said to Abigaia, Blessedbe the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this very day to meet me: 33 and blessedbe your conduct, and blessedbe you, who have hindered me this very day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself. 34 But surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who hindered me this day from doing you harm,if you had not hasted and come to meet me, then I said, There shallsurely not be left to Nabal till the morning one male. 35 And David took of her hand all that she brought to him, and said to her, Go in peaceto your house: see, I have hearkened to your voice, and accepted your petition. 36 And Abigaia came to Nabal: and, behold, he had a banquet in this house, as the banquetof a king, and the heart of Nabalwas merry within him, and hewas very drunken: and she told him nothing great or small till the morning light. 37 And it came to pass in the morning, when Nabal recovered from his wine, his wife toldhim these words; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And it came to pass after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. 39 And David heard it and said, Blessedbe the Lord, who has judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and has deliveredhis servant from the power of evil; and the Lord has returned the mischief of Nabal upon his own head.And David sent and spoke concerning Abigaia, to take her to himself for a wife. 40 So the servants of David came to Abigaia to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David hassent us to you, to take you to himself for a wife. 41 And she arose, and did reverence with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, your servantis for an handmaid to wash the feet of your servants. 42 And Abigaia arose, and mounted her ass, and five damsels followed her: and she went afterthe servants of David, and became his wife. 43 And David took Achinaam out of Jezrael, and they were both his wives. 44 And Saul gave Melchol his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Amis who was ofRomma.