David, Nabal, and Abigail

25 Samuel died,^(A) and all Israel assembled to mourn for him,^(B) and they buried him by his home in Ramah.^(C) David then went down to the Wilderness of Paran.^[a](D)

² A man in Maon^(E) had a business in Carmel;^(F) he was a very rich man with three thousand sheep and one thousand goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite,^(G) was harsh and evil in his dealings.

⁴ While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, ⁵ so David sent ten young men instructing them, ‘Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him^[b] in my name. ⁶ Then say this: “Long life to you,^[c] and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours.^{(H) 7} I hear that you are shearing.^[d] When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.^{(I) 8} Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favour with you, for we have come on a feast^[e] day.^(J) Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.” ’

⁹ David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf,^[f] and they waited.^{[g] 10} Nabal asked them, ‘Who is David?^(K) Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters. ¹¹ Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.’

¹² David’s young men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words. ¹³ He said to his men, ‘All of you, put on your swords! ’ So each man put on his sword, and David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David while two hundred stayed with the supplies.^(L)

¹⁴ One of Nabal’s young men informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife, ‘Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master,^(M) but he screamed at them. ¹⁵ The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed^(N) and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them. ¹⁶ They were a wall around us, both day and night,^(O) the entire time we were with them herding the sheep. ¹⁷ Now consider carefully^[h] what you should do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him! ’

¹⁸ Abigail hurried, taking two hundred loaves of bread, two clay jars of wine, five butchered sheep, thirty-seven litres^[i] of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.^{(P) 19} Then she said to her male servants, ‘Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.’^(Q) But she did not tell her husband, Nabal.

²⁰ As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming towards her and met them. ²¹ David had just said, ‘I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good. ²² May God punish me^[j] and do so severely^(R) if I let any of his males^[k] survive until morning.’^(S)

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and knelt down with her face to the ground and paid homage to David.^{(T) 24} She knelt at his feet and said, ‘The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant. ²⁵ My lord should pay no attention to this worthless fool Nabal, for he lives up to his name:^[l] His name means ‘stupid’, and stupidity is all he knows.^[m] I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men whom you sent. ²⁶ Now my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live – it is the Lord who kept you from participating in bloodshed and avenging yourself^(U) by your own hand–may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.^{(V) 27} Let this gift^(W) your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive your servant’s offence,^(X) for the Lord is certain to make a lasting dynasty for my lord^(Y) because he fights the Lord’s battles.^(Z) Throughout your life, may evil^[n] not be found in you.^(AA)

²⁹ ‘Someone is pursuing you and intends to take your life. My lord’s life is tucked safely in the place^[o] where the Lord your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies’ lives like stones from a sling.^{(AB) 30} When the Lord does for my lord all the good he promised you and appoints you ruler over Israel,^{(AC) 31} there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord’s revenge. And when the Lord does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant.’^(AD)

³² Then David said to Abigail, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,^(AE) who sent you to meet me today! ³³ May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.^{(AF) 34} Otherwise, as surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, Nabal wouldn’t have had any males^[p] left by morning light.’ ³⁵ Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, ‘Go home in peace.^(AG) See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request.’^(AH)

³⁶ Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king.^(AI) Nabal’s heart was cheerful,^[q] and he was very drunk, so she didn’t say anything^[r] to him^(AJ) until morning light.

³⁷ In the morning when Nabal sobered up,^[s] his wife told him about these events. His heart died^[t] and he became a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal dead.^(AK)

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ‘Blessed be the Lord who championed my cause against Nabal’s insults^(AL) and restrained his servant from doing evil.^(AM) The Lord brought Nabal’s evil deeds back on his own head.’^(AN)

Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him. ⁴⁰ When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, ‘David sent us to bring you to him as a wife.’

⁴¹ She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground,^(AO) and said, ‘Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.’^{(AP) 42} Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David’s messengers.^(AQ) And so she became his wife.

⁴³ David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel,^(AR) and the two of them became his wives. ⁴⁴ But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti^(AS) son of Laish, who was from Gallim.^(AT)