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1 Samuel 25:2-44
Christian Standard Bible

2 A man in Maon(A) had a business in Carmel;(B) 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,(C) 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[a] in my name. 6 Then say this: ‘Long life to you,[b] and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours.(D) 7 I hear that you are shearing.[c] When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.(E) 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast[d] day.(F) 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,[e] and they waited.[f] 10 Nabal asked them, “Who is David?(G) 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.(H)

14 One of Nabal’s young men informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master,(I) but he screamed at them. 15 The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed(J) 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,(K) the entire time we were with them herding the sheep. 17 Now consider carefully[g] 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, a bushel[h] of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.(L) 19 Then she said to her male servants, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.”(M) 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 toward 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[i] and do so severely(N) if I let any of his males[j] survive until morning.”(O)

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.(P) 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:[k] His name means ‘stupid,’ and stupidity is all he knows.[l] 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(Q) by your own hand—may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.(R) 27 Let this gift(S) your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive your servant’s offense,(T) for the Lord is certain to make a lasting dynasty for my lord(U) because he fights the Lord’s battles.(V) Throughout your life, may evil[m] not be found in you.(W)

29 “Someone is pursuing you and intends to take your life. My lord’s life is tucked safely in the place[n] where the Lord your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies’ lives like stones from a sling.(X) 30 When the Lord does for my lord all the good he promised you and appoints you ruler over Israel,(Y) 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.”(Z)

32 Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,(AA) 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.(AB) 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[o] left by morning light.” 35 Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace.(AC) See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request.”(AD)

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

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

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

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,(AK) and said, “Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”(AL) 42 Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David’s messengers.(AM) And so she became his wife.

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

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Footnotes

  1. 25:5 Or Nabal, ask him for peace
  2. 25:6 Lit ‘To life
  3. 25:7 Lit you have shearers
  4. 25:8 Lit good
  5. 25:9 Lit name
  6. 25:9 LXX reads and he became arrogant
  7. 25:17 Lit Now know and see
  8. 25:18 Lit sheep, five seahs
  9. 25:22 LXX; MT reads David’s enemies
  10. 25:22 Lit of those of his who are urinating against the wall
  11. 25:25 Lit for as is his name is, so he is
  12. 25:25 Lit and foolishness is with him
  13. 25:28 Or trouble
  14. 25:29 Lit bundle
  15. 25:34 Lit had anyone urinating against a wall
  16. 25:36 Lit Nabal’s heart was good on him
  17. 25:36 Lit anything at all
  18. 25:37 Lit when the wine had gone out of Nabal
  19. 25:37 Lit Then his heart died within him
Listen to 1 Samuel 25:2-44
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1 Samuel 25:2-44
New American Standard Bible

Nabal and Abigail

2 Now there was a man in (A)Maon whose business was in (B)Carmel; and the man was very [a]rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about 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 [b]intelligent 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 and [c]visit Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and this is what you shall say: ‘[d]Have a long life, (F)peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now then, I have heard (G)that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, (H)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 (I)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, “(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 [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 (L)four hundred men went up behind David, while two hundred (M)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](N)greet our master, and he spoke to them in anger. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not (O)harmed, nor did anything go missing [h]as long as we went with them, while we were in the fields. 16 (P)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 (Q)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, “(R)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 (S)returned me evil for good. 22 (T)May God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, (U)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 (V)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 (W)from [r]avenging yourself by your own hand, now then, (X)may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal. 27 And now let (Y)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 (Z)the offense of your slave; for (AA)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an [u]enduring house, because my lord is (AB)fighting the battles of the Lord, and (AC)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 (AD)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 (AE)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. (AF)When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “(AG)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, (AH)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, (AI)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, “(AJ)Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to [ae]you and [af](AK)granted your request.”

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having (AL)a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, (AM)for he was very drunk; so (AN)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, (AO)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 (AP)pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and (AQ)has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent [ah](AR)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 (AS)and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant (AT)to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then (AU)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 (AV)Jezreel, and (AW)they both became his wives.

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

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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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