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1 Samuel 25
Lexham English Bible

Samuel’s Death

25 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. They buried him at his house at Ramah. Then David got up and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

David and Abigail

2 Now there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich and owned[a] three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. Now[b] the shearing of his sheep was taking place in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal,[c] and the name of his wife was Abigail.[d] Now the woman was wise and beautiful, but the man was stubborn and mean,[e] and he was as his heart.[f] 4 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 go to Nabal; you will greet him in my name.[g] 6 Then you must say to him, ‘Long life to you, and may it go well with you, with your house, and with all that is yours.[h] 7 Now I have heard that you have shearers.[i] Now while your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and nothing of theirs was missing, all the days they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your servants[j] and they will tell you! Let the young men[k] find favor in your eyes because we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have on hand[l] for your servants and for your son David.”

9 So David’s young men came and they spoke all these words to Nabal in the name of David. Then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, there are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters. 11 Should I take my bread and my water and my meat which I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from? 12 So David’s young men turned on their way and returned and came and told him according to all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Each man strap on his sword!” So each one strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

14 But a young man of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the desert to greet[m] our master, but he addressed them angrily, 15 even though the men were very good to us; we were not mistreated and did not miss anything all the days we went about with them while we were[n] in the field. 16 They were a wall to us both night and day, all the days we were[o] with them keeping the sheep. 17 And so then, know and consider[p] what you should do, for evil has been decided against our master and against all his household, and he is such a wicked man,[q] nobody can reason with him!”[r]

18 Then Abigail quickly took[s] two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes, and she put them on the donkeys. 19 Then she said to her servants, “Go ahead before me; look, I am coming after you,” but she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And then,[t] as she was riding on the donkey and was going down the ravine of the mountain, David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain[u] I guarded all that this fellow had in the desert. And nothing was missed of all that was his, but he returned evil against me in place of good! 22 May God severely punish the enemies of David[v] and again do thus if I leave behind anything that is his[w] until the morning, not even one male!”[x] 23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell on her face before David’s anger,[y] and she bowed down to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me, my lord, be the guilt! Please let your female servant speak to you personally![z] Hear the words of your female servant! 25 Please do not let my lord set his heart against this worthless man,[aa] Nabal; for as his name, so is he. Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him! But I, your female servant, did not see the young men[ab] of my lord whom you sent. 26 So then, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives,[ac] since Yahweh restrained you from bloodguilt by taking matters into your own hand,[ad] so then, may your enemies be like Nabal, even those who seek to do my lord harm.[ae] 27 So then, this gift which your female servant has brought to my lord, may it be given to the young men who follow my lord.[af] 28 Please forgive the transgression of your female servant, because Yahweh will certainly make a lasting house[ag] for my lord, because my lord is fighting the battles of Yahweh, and evil will not be found in you as long as you live.[ah] 29 Should a man arise to pursue you and to seek your life, may the life of my lord be wrapped in the pouch[ai] of the living with Yahweh your God. But as for the life of your enemy, he will sling it from within[aj] the pocket of the sling! 30 And then[ak] when Yahweh has done for my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you as leader over Israel, 31 then this will not be an obstacle for you or a stumbling block of conscience for my lord either by the shedding of blood without cause or by my lord taking matters into his own hands.[al] And when Yahweh does good to my lord, then remember your female servant.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel who has sent you this day to meet me! 33 And blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you who have prevented me this day from bloodguilt and from delivering myself by my own hand. 34 But as Yahweh lives,[am] the God of Israel who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been one male[an] left alive for Nabal by the light of morning!” 35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought for him, and he said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice, and I have granted your request.”[ao]

36 Then Abigail went to Nabal, and look, he was holding a feast[ap] in his house like the feast of the king. Nabal was enjoying himself,[aq] and he was very drunk, so she did not tell him a thing, nothing at all,[ar] until the light of morning. 37 And then[as] in the morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these words. Then his heart died within him,[at] and he became like a stone. 38 And then,[au] about ten days later, Yahweh struck Nabal and he died.

39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Blessed be Yahweh who has vindicated the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and he has kept back his servant from evil; but Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for his wife. 40 So the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you for his wife.” 41 She got up and bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “Here is your female servant, as a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then Abigail quickly got up[av] and rode on the donkey, along with five of her maidservants who attended her,[aw] and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David had also taken Ahinoam from Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. 44 (Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 25:2 Literally “there were for him”
  2. 1 Samuel 25:2 Literally “And it happened”
  3. 1 Samuel 25:3 The name “Nabal” means “foolish”
  4. 1 Samuel 25:3 The name “Abigail” means “my father delights”
  5. 1 Samuel 25:3 Literally “bad of deeds”
  6. 1 Samuel 25:3 The Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “as his heart,” whereas the reading tradition (Qere) reads “Calebite”
  7. 1 Samuel 25:5 Literally “you will ask for him in my name as far as peace”
  8. 1 Samuel 25:6 Literally “you are peace and your house is peace and all that is yours is peace”
  9. 1 Samuel 25:7 Literally “shearing is for you”
  10. 1 Samuel 25:8 Or “young men”
  11. 1 Samuel 25:8 Or “the servants”; “young men” is used here to connect with v. 5
  12. 1 Samuel 25:8 Literally “what your hand finds”
  13. 1 Samuel 25:14 Hebrew “bless”
  14. 1 Samuel 25:15 Literally “at our being”
  15. 1 Samuel 25:16 Literally “the days of our being”
  16. 1 Samuel 25:17 Literally “see”
  17. 1 Samuel 25:17 Literally “a son of uselessness”
  18. 1 Samuel 25:17 Literally “from speaking to him”
  19. 1 Samuel 25:18 Literally “hastened and took”
  20. 1 Samuel 25:20 Literally “And it happened”
  21. 1 Samuel 25:21 Literally “for the vanity”
  22. 1 Samuel 25:22 Literally “May God do so to the enemies of David”; following the LXX some English versions omit the words “the enemies of”
  23. 1 Samuel 25:22 Literally “from all that is for him”
  24. 1 Samuel 25:22 Literally “from one urinating against a wall”
  25. 1 Samuel 25:23 Literally “the nostrils of David”
  26. 1 Samuel 25:24 Literally “in your ears”
  27. 1 Samuel 25:25 Literally “this man of wickedness”
  28. 1 Samuel 25:25 Or “the servants”
  29. 1 Samuel 25:26 Literally “the life of Yahweh and the life of your soul”
  30. 1 Samuel 25:26 Literally “saving your hand for you”
  31. 1 Samuel 25:26 Literally “the seeking to my lord evil”
  32. 1 Samuel 25:27 Literally “the ones going about at the feet of my lord”
  33. 1 Samuel 25:28 That is, a lasting dynasty
  34. 1 Samuel 25:28 Literally “from your days”
  35. 1 Samuel 25:29 Or “bag”
  36. 1 Samuel 25:29 Hebrew “in the midst of”
  37. 1 Samuel 25:30 Literally “And it will happen”
  38. 1 Samuel 25:31 Literally “the saving of my lord for himself”
  39. 1 Samuel 25:34 Literally “the life of Yahweh”
  40. 1 Samuel 25:34 Literally “one urinating against a wall”
  41. 1 Samuel 25:35 Literally “lifted up your face”
  42. 1 Samuel 25:36 Literally “a feast was for him”
  43. 1 Samuel 25:36 Literally “the heart of Nabal was good on him”
  44. 1 Samuel 25:36 Literally “small or large”
  45. 1 Samuel 25:37 Literally “And it happened”
  46. 1 Samuel 25:37 Literally “in his midst”
  47. 1 Samuel 25:38 Literally “And it happened”
  48. 1 Samuel 25:42 Literally “hastened and got up”
  49. 1 Samuel 25:42 Literally “the ones going about at her feet”
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1 Samuel 25
New American Standard Bible

Samuel’s Death

25 (A)Then Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and (B)mourned for him, and they (C)buried him at his house in Ramah. And David set out and went down to the (D)wilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

2 Now there was a man in (E)Maon whose business was in (F)Carmel; and the man was very [a]rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while (G)he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his (H)wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was [b]intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was (I)a 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 [c]visit Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and this is what you shall say: ‘[d]Have a long life, (J)peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now then, I have heard (K)that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, (L)nor 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 (M)a [e]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, “(N)Who 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 (O)take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men [f]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 (P)four hundred men went up behind David, while two hundred (Q)stayed with the baggage.

14 Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to [g](R)greet our master, and he spoke to them in anger. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not (S)harmed, nor did anything go missing [h]as long as we went with them, while we were in the fields. 16 (T)They 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 [i]consider what you should do, because harm is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a [j]worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

18 Then Abigail hurried and (U)took 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, “(V)Go 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 (W)returned me evil for good. 22 (X)May God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, (Y)if by morning I leave alive as much as one [k]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 (Z)and bowed herself to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me [l]alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak [m]to you, and listen to the words of your slave. 25 Please do not let my lord [n]pay attention to this [o]worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. [p]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 [q]shedding blood, and (AA)from [r]avenging yourself by your own hand, now then, (AB)may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal. 27 And now let (AC)this [s]gift which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who [t]accompany my lord. 28 Please forgive (AD)the offense of your slave; for (AE)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an [u]enduring house, because my lord is (AF)fighting the battles of the Lord, and (AG)evil will not be found in you all your days. 29 Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your [v]life, then the [w]life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the [x]lives of your enemies (AH)He will sling out [y]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 (AI)appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 this will not become an obstacle to you, or a [z]troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having [aa]avenged himself. (AJ)When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “(AK)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33 and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, (AL)who have kept me this day from [ab]bloodshed and from [ac]avenging myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, (AM)who 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 [ad]male.” 35 So David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “(AN)Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to [ae]you and [af](AO)granted your request.”

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having (AP)a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, (AQ)for he was very drunk; so (AR)she did not tell him anything [ag]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, (AS)the 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 (AT)pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and (AU)has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent [ah](AV)a 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 (AW)and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant (AX)to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then (AY)Abigail got up quickly, and rode on a donkey, with her five female attendants who [ai]accompanied her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David had also taken Ahinoam of (AZ)Jezreel, and (BA)they both became his wives.

44 But Saul had given his daughter (BB)Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from (BC)Gallim.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 25:2 Lit great
  2. 1 Samuel 25:3 Lit of good understanding
  3. 1 Samuel 25:5 Lit come to
  4. 1 Samuel 25:6 Lit To life
  5. 1 Samuel 25:8 Lit good
  6. 1 Samuel 25:11 Lit from where they are
  7. 1 Samuel 25:14 Lit bless
  8. 1 Samuel 25:15 Lit all the days
  9. 1 Samuel 25:17 Lit see
  10. 1 Samuel 25:17 Lit son of Belial
  11. 1 Samuel 25:22 Lit who urinates against the wall
  12. 1 Samuel 25:24 Lit myself
  13. 1 Samuel 25:24 Lit in your ears
  14. 1 Samuel 25:25 Lit set his heart to
  15. 1 Samuel 25:25 Lit man of Belial
  16. 1 Samuel 25:25 I.e., fool
  17. 1 Samuel 25:26 Lit coming in with blood
  18. 1 Samuel 25:26 Lit helping
  19. 1 Samuel 25:27 Lit blessing
  20. 1 Samuel 25:27 Lit walk at the feet of
  21. 1 Samuel 25:28 Or permanent
  22. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit soul
  23. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit soul
  24. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit soul
  25. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit in the midst of
  26. 1 Samuel 25:31 Lit stumbling of heart
  27. 1 Samuel 25:31 Lit helped
  28. 1 Samuel 25:33 Lit coming into blood
  29. 1 Samuel 25:33 Lit helping
  30. 1 Samuel 25:34 Lit who urinates against the wall
  31. 1 Samuel 25:35 Lit your voice
  32. 1 Samuel 25:35 Lit lifted up your face
  33. 1 Samuel 25:36 Lit small or large
  34. 1 Samuel 25:39 Lit and spoke
  35. 1 Samuel 25:42 Lit walked at her feet
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1 Samuel 24
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