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1 Samuel 25:2-44
Legacy Standard Bible

David and Abigail

2 Now there was a man in (A)Maon whose work was in (B)Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. And it happened, while (C)he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his (D)wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was good in insight and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was (E)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, come to Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and thus you shall say, ‘[a]Have a long life; (F)peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 So now I have heard (G)that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us; and we have not dishonored them, (H)nor have they missed anything 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 (I)a [b]festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son, to David.’”

9 Then David’s young men came and spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name. Then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “(J)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 (K)take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men [c]whose origin I do not know?” 12 So David’s young men went back on their way and returned; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about (L)four hundred men went up behind David, and two hundred (M)stayed with the baggage.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to [d](N)greet our master, and he rushed at them angrily. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not (O)dishonored, nor did we miss anything [e]as long as we went about with them, while we were in the field. 16 (P)They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them shepherding the sheep. 17 So now, know and see what you should do, for evil is decided against our master and against all his household; and he is such a [f]vile man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail’s Discernment

18 Then Abigail hurried and (Q)took two hundred loaves of bread and two [g]jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and [h]five seahs of roasted grain and one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to her young men, “(R)Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 So it was happening, 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; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely for a lie I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has (S)returned me evil for good. 22 (T)May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, (U)if by morning I leave as much as one [i]male of any who belong to him.”

23 Then Abigail saw David; so she hurried and dismounted from her donkey and fell on her face [j]before David (V)and bowed herself to the ground. 24 And she fell at his feet and said, “On me [k]alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25 Please do not let my lord [l]pay attention to this [m]vile man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. [n]Nabal is his name, and wicked foolishness is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

26 “So now, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has restrained you from [o]shedding blood, and (W)from saving yourself by your own hand, so now, (X)let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. 27 So now let (Y)this [p]gift which your servant-woman has brought to my lord be given to the young men who [q]went about with my lord. 28 Please forgive (Z)the transgression of your maidservant; for (AA)Yahweh will certainly make for my lord an enduring house because my lord is (AB)fighting the battles of Yahweh, and (AC)evil will not be found in you all your days. 29 And should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your [r]life, then the [s]life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Yahweh your God; but the [t]lives of your enemies (AD)He will sling out [u]as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And it will be that when Yahweh does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and (AE)appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 then this will not [v]cause stumbling or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having saved himself. (AF)When Yahweh deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “(AG)Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33 and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, (AH)who have kept me this day from [w]bloodshed and from saving myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, (AI)who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one [x]male.” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “(AJ)Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice and [y](AK)granted your request.”

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding (AL)a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, (AM)for he was very drunk; so (AN)she did not tell him anything small or great 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 as a stone. 38 Now it happened that about ten days later, (AO)Yahweh smote Nabal, and he died.

Abigail Becomes David’s Wife

39 Then David heard that Nabal was dead, so he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has (AP)pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and (AQ)has kept back His servant from evil. Yahweh has also returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent [z](AR)a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 Then the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel and spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.” 41 And she arose (AS)and bowed with her [aa]face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a servant-woman (AT)to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then (AU)Abigail hurried and arose, and she rode on a donkey, with her five young women who [ab]went about with her; and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife.

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

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

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 25:6 Lit To life
  2. 1 Samuel 25:8 Lit good
  3. 1 Samuel 25:11 Lit from where they are
  4. 1 Samuel 25:14 Lit bless
  5. 1 Samuel 25:15 Lit all the days
  6. 1 Samuel 25:17 Lit son of Belial
  7. 1 Samuel 25:18 Heb is similar to Nabal
  8. 1 Samuel 25:18 Approx. 35 qt. or 38.5 l, a seah was approx. 7 qt. or 7.7 l
  9. 1 Samuel 25:22 Lit who urinates against the wall, cf. 25:34; 1 Kin 14:10; 16:11; 21:21; 2 Kin 9:8
  10. 1 Samuel 25:23 Lit with her nose to
  11. 1 Samuel 25:24 Lit even me
  12. 1 Samuel 25:25 Lit set his heart to
  13. 1 Samuel 25:25 Lit man of Belial
  14. 1 Samuel 25:25 Lit Wicked fool
  15. 1 Samuel 25:26 Lit coming in with blood
  16. 1 Samuel 25:27 Lit blessing
  17. 1 Samuel 25:27 Lit walk at the feet of
  18. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit soul
  19. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit soul
  20. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit soul
  21. 1 Samuel 25:29 Lit in the midst
  22. 1 Samuel 25:31 Lit become staggering to you or a stumbling of the heart
  23. 1 Samuel 25:33 Lit coming in with blood
  24. 1 Samuel 25:34 Lit who urinates against the wall, cf. 25:22; 1 Kin 14:10; 16:11; 21:21; 2 Kin 9:8
  25. 1 Samuel 25:35 Lit lifted up your face
  26. 1 Samuel 25:39 Lit and spoke
  27. 1 Samuel 25:41 Lit nose
  28. 1 Samuel 25:42 Lit walked at her feet
Listen to 1 Samuel 25:2-44
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1 Samuel 25:2-44
New King James Version

David and the Wife of Nabal

2 Now there was a man (A)in Maon whose business was in (B)Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of (C)Caleb.

4 When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was (D)shearing his sheep, 5 David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: (E)‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, (F)nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore [a]let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on (G)a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

9 So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.

10 Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, (H)“Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. 11 (I)Shall I then take my bread and my water and my [b]meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”

12 So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred (J)stayed with the supplies.

14 Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he [c]reviled them. 15 But the men were very good to us, and (K)we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. 16 They were (L)a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for (M)harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a (N)scoundrel[d] that one cannot speak to him.”

18 Then Abigail made haste and (O)took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her servants, (P)“Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has (Q)repaid me evil for good. 22 (R)May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I (S)leave (T)one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”

23 Now when Abigail saw David, she (U)dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. 24 So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant [e]speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. 25 Please, let not my lord [f]regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: [g]Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 Now therefore, my lord, (V)as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has (W)held you back from coming to bloodshed and from (X)avenging[h] yourself with your own hand, now then, (Y)let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now (Z)this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For (AA)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord (AB)fights the battles of the Lord, (AC)and evil is not found in you throughout your days. 29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be (AD)bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall (AE)sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you (AF)ruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

32 Then David said to Abigail: (AG)“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have (AH)kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has (AI)kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely (AJ)by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, (AK)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and (AL)respected your person.”

36 Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, (AM)holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 37 So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord (AN)struck Nabal, and he died.

39 So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, (AO)“Blessed be the Lord, who has (AP)pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has (AQ)kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has (AR)returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”

And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”

41 Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to (AS)wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, [i]attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43 David also took Ahinoam (AT)of Jezreel, (AU)and so both of them were his wives.

44 But Saul had given (AV)Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to [j]Palti the son of Laish, who was from (AW)Gallim.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 25:8 be gracious to the young men
  2. 1 Samuel 25:11 Lit. slaughter
  3. 1 Samuel 25:14 scolded or scorned at
  4. 1 Samuel 25:17 Lit. son of Belial
  5. 1 Samuel 25:24 speak to you
  6. 1 Samuel 25:25 pay attention to
  7. 1 Samuel 25:25 Lit. Fool
  8. 1 Samuel 25:26 Lit. saving yourself
  9. 1 Samuel 25:42 Lit. with five of her maidens at her feet
  10. 1 Samuel 25:44 Paltiel, 2 Sam. 3:15
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