1Sa 25 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then Samuel died ; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah . And David set out and went down to the wilderness of Paran .

1 Samuel 25

Samuel’s Death

1 ^aThen Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and ^bmourned for him, and they ^cburied him at his house in Ramah. And David set out and went down to the ^dwilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

2 Now there was a man in ^eMaon whose business was in ^fCarmel; and the man was very ^{▼▼Lit great}rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while ^hhe was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his ⁱwife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was ^{▼▼Lit of good understanding}intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was ^ka Calebite), 4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and ^{▼▼Lit come to}visit Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and this is what you shall say: ‘ ^{▼▼Lit To life}Have a long life, ⁿpeace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now then, I have heard ^othat you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, ^pnor has anything of theirs gone missing all the days they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on ^qa ^{▼▼Lit good}festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

9 When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal in accordance with all these words in David’s name; then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “ ^sWho is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 11 Shall I then ^ttake my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men ^{▼▼Lit from where they are}whose origin I do not know?” 12 So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and informed him in accordance with all these words. 13 Then 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 ^vfour hundred men went up behind David, while two hundred ^wstayed with the baggage.

14 Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to ^{▼▼Lit bless
,} ^ygreet our master, and he spoke to them in anger. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not ^zharmed, nor did anything go missing ^{▼▼Lit all the days}as long as we went with them, while we were in the fields. 16 ^abThey were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. 17 Now then, be aware and ^{▼▼Lit see}consider what you should do, because harm is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a ^{▼▼Lit son of Belial}worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

18 Then Abigail hurried and ^aetook 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. 19 Then she said to her young men, “ ^afGo on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And 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. 21 Now 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 ^agreturned me evil for good. 22 ^ahMay God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, ^aiif by morning I leave alive as much as one ^{▼▼Lit who urinates against the wall}male of any who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face in front of David ^akand bowed herself to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me ^{▼▼Lit myself}alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak ^{▼▼Lit in your ears}to you, and listen to the words of your slave. 25 Please do not let my lord ^{▼▼Lit set his heart to}pay attention to this ^{▼▼Lit man of Belial}worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. ^{▼▼I.e., fool}Nabal 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 ^{▼▼Lit coming in with blood}shedding blood, and ^arfrom ^{▼▼Lit helping}avenging yourself by your own hand, now then, ^atmay your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal. 27 And now let ^authis ^{▼▼Lit blessing}gift which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who ^{▼▼Lit walk at the feet of}accompany my lord. 28 Please forgive ^axthe offense of your slave; for ^aythe Lord will certainly make for my lord an ^{▼▼Or permanent}enduring house, because my lord is ^bafighting the battles of the Lord, and ^bbevil will not be found in you all your days. 29 Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your ^{▼▼Lit soul}life, then the ^{▼▼Lit soul}life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the ^{▼▼Lit soul}lives of your enemies ^bfHe will sling out ^{▼▼Lit in the midst of}as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord does for my lord in accordance with all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and ^bhappoints you ruler over Israel, 31 this will not become an obstacle to you, or a ^{▼▼Lit stumbling of heart}troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having ^{▼▼Lit helped}avenged himself. ^bkWhen the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “ ^blBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33 and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, ^bmwho have kept me this day from ^{▼▼Lit coming into blood}bloodshed and from ^{▼▼Lit helping}avenging myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, ^bpwho 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 ^{▼▼Lit who urinates against the wall}male.” 35 So David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “ ^brGo up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to ^{▼▼Lit your voice}you and ^{▼▼Lit lifted up your face
,} ^bugranted your request.”

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having ^bva feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, ^bwfor he was very drunk; so ^bxshe did not tell him anything ^{▼▼Lit small or large}at all until the morning light. 37 But 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. 38 About ten days later, ^bzthe Lord struck Nabal and he died.

David Marries Abigail

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has ^capleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and ^cbhas kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent ^{▼▼Lit and spoke
,} ^cda proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When 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.” 41 And she got up ^ceand bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant ^cfto wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then ^cgAbigail got up quickly, and rode on a donkey, with her five female attendants who ^{▼▼Lit walked at her feet}accompanied her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David had also taken Ahinoam of ^ciJezreel, and ^cjthey both became his wives.

44 But Saul had given his daughter ^ckMichal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from ^clGallim.