1 Samuel 25

1And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

1Samuel died, and all the Israelites gathered to mourn him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David went down to the desert of Paran.

2And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

2There was a man in Maon who had business in Carmel. He was very wealthy, owning 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. At that time, he was in Carmel shearing his sheep.

3Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

3The man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful, but Nabal was mean and dishonest. He was a descendant of Caleb.

4And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

4While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

5And David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:

5David sent ten young men and told them, 'Go up to Carmel, find Nabal, and give him a friendly greeting from me.'

6and thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.

6'Say to him: "Long life to you! Peace to you, to your family, and to everything you own." '

7And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: thy shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

7' "I heard that you are shearing your sheep. Your shepherds have been with us, and we never mistreated them. Nothing of theirs went missing the whole time they were at Carmel." '

8Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee: wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David.

8' "Ask your own servants and they will tell you it's true. So please be kind to my young men, since we have come on a feast day. Please give us and your son David whatever food you can spare." '

9And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

9When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message just as David had said, and then they waited.

10And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master.

10Nabal answered David's servants, 'Who is this David? Who is the son of Jesse? Many slaves are running away from their masters these days.'

11Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men of whom I know not whence they are?

11'Why should I take my bread, my water, and the meat I killed for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?'

12So David’s young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words.

12David's young men turned around and went back to tell David everything Nabal had said.

13And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage.

13David told his men, 'Every man put on his sword!' So they buckled on their swords, and David buckled on his. About 400 men went up with David, while 200 stayed behind with the supplies.

14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed at them.

14But one of Nabal's servants warned Nabal's wife, Abigail, 'David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed insults at them.'

15But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields:

15'Yet David's men were very good to us. They never mistreated us, and we never lost anything while we were out in the fields near them.'

16they were a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

16'Night and day they were like a wall of protection around us the whole time we were watching the sheep near them.'

17Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house: for he is such a worthless fellow, that one cannot speak to him.

17'Now, you must decide what to do. Trouble is coming for our master and his whole family. He is such a wicked man that no one can even talk to him.'

18Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

18Abigail acted quickly. She took 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, about a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

19And she said unto her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

19She told her servants, 'Go on ahead of me; I will follow you.' But she did not tell her husband Nabal what she was doing.

20And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

20As she was riding her donkey down into a mountain ravine, David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them.

21Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.

21David had just been saying, 'It was a waste of time protecting this man's property in the wilderness so that nothing was lost. He has paid me back evil for good.'

22God do so unto the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light so much as one man-child.

22'May God punish me severely if I leave even one male in his family alive by tomorrow morning!'

23And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and alighted from her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.

23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey. She bowed down before David with her face to the ground.

24And she fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity; and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid.

24She fell at his feet and said, 'My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; listen to what I have to say.'

25Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

25'Please don't pay attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means "Fool," and he is a fool. But I, your servant, didn't see the men you sent.'

26Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah hath withholden thee from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now therefore let thine enemies, and them that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

26'Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, the Lord has kept you from murdering and taking revenge with your own hands. May your enemies and those who want to hurt you be like Nabal.'

27And now this present which thy servant hath brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the young men that follow my lord.

27'Please accept this gift I have brought you and give it to the young men who follow you.'

28Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of Jehovah; and evil shall not be found in thee all thy days.

28'Please forgive me for any wrong I have done. The Lord will certainly give you a lasting dynasty, because you fight the Lord’s battles. Don't let any evil be found in you as long as you live.'

29And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling.

29'Even if someone chases you to take your life, your life will be safe in the care of the Lord your God. But he will fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a slingshot.'

30And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee prince over Israel,

30'The Lord will do all the good things he promised for you and will make you ruler over Israel.'

31that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

31'When that happens, you won't have the burden or the guilt of having spilled blood for no reason or having taken your own revenge. And when the Lord has brought you success, please remember me.'

32And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me:

32David said to Abigail, 'Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!'

33and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

33'Blessings on your good sense and on you for keeping me from murdering people and taking revenge into my own hands today.'

34For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.

34'Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the one who kept me from hurting you—if you hadn't hurried to meet me, not one male in Nabal's family would have been left alive by morning.'

35So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

35Then David accepted the gifts she brought and told her, 'Go home in peace. I have heard your request and I will do what you asked.'

36And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

36When Abigail got home, Nabal was having a feast like a king's feast. He was in high spirits and very drunk, so she didn't tell him anything until the next morning.

37And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

37In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him everything that had happened. His heart failed him and he became paralyzed like a stone.

38And it came to pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died.

38About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

39And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept back his servant from evil: and the evil-doing of Nabal hath Jehovah returned upon his own head. And David sent and spake concerning Abigail, to take her to him to wife.

39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, 'Praise the Lord! He has settled my case against Nabal for insulting me. He kept me from doing wrong and has punished Nabal for his own evil.' Then David sent a message to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

40And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David hath sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.

40David’s servants went to Abigail at Carmel and said, 'David sent us to bring you to him to be his wife.'

41And she arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thy handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

41She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, 'I am your servant, ready to serve you and even to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.'

42And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

42Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by five of her female servants, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives.

43David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.

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

44But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's first wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.