1 Samuel 25

1And Samuel died, and all Israel was gathered together, and they mourned for him, and buried him in his house in Ramatha. And David rose, and went down into the wilderness of Pharan.

1And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.

1And death came to Samuel; and all Israel came together, weeping for him, and put his body in its resting-place in his house at Ramah. Then David went down to the waste land of Maon.

2Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

2And <FI>there is<Fi> a man in Maon, and his work <FI>is<Fi> in Carmel; and the man <FI>is<Fi> very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel.

2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel.

3Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman: but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill natured: and he was of the house of Caleb.

3And the name of the man <FI>is<Fi> Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman <FI>is<Fi> of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man <FI>is<Fi> hard and evil <FI>in<Fi> doings; and he <FI>is<Fi> a Calebite.

3Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb.

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

4And David heareth in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock,

4And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.

5He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and salute him in my name with peace.

5and David sendeth ten young men, and David saith to the young men, `Go ye up to Carmel, and ye have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare,

5And David sent ten young men, and said to them, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and say kind words to him in my name;

6And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou hast.

6and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast--peace!

6And say this to my brother, May all be well for you: peace be to you and your house and all you have.

7I have heard that thy shepherds that were with us in the desert were shearing: we never molested them, neither was there ought missing to them of the flock at any time, all the while they were with us in Carmel.

7and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.

7I have had word that you have wool-cutters: now the keepers of your sheep have been with us, and we have done them no evil, and taken nothing of theirs while they were in Carmel.

8Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we are come in a good day, whatsoever thy hand shall find give to thy servants, and to thy son David.

8`Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.'

8If your young men are questioned they will say the same thing. So now, let my young men have grace in your eyes, for we are come at a good time; please give anything you may have by you to your servants and to your son David.

9And when David's servants came, they spoke to Nabal all these words in David's name, and then held their peace.

9And the young men of David come in, and speak unto Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David--and rest.

9And when David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David's name, and said nothing more.

10But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who is David? and what is the son of Isai? servants are multiplied now days who flee from their masters.

10And Nabal answereth the servants of David and saith, `Who <FI>is<Fi> David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master;

10And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters.

11Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the flesh of my cattle, which I have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I know not whence they are?

11and I have taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given <FI>it<Fi> to men whom I have not known whence they <FI>are<Fi> !'

11Am I to take my bread and my wine and the meat I have got ready for my wool-cutters and give it to men coming from I have no idea where?

12So the servants of David went back their way, and returning came and told him all the words that he said.

12And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all these words.

12So David's young men, turning away, went back and gave him an account of everything he had said.

13Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword: and there followed David about four hundred men, and two hundred remained with the baggage.

13And David saith to his men, `Gird ye on each his sword;' and they gird on each his sword, and David also girdeth on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels.

13And David said to his men, Put on your swords, every one of you. And every man put on his sword; and David did the same; and about four hundred men went up with David, and two hundred kept watch over their goods.

14But one of the servants told, Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying: Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness, to salute our master: and he rejected them.

14And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, `Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them;

14But one of the young men said to Nabal's wife Abigail, David sent men from the waste land to say kind words to our master, and he gave them a rough answer.

15These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble: Neither did we ever lose any thing all the time that we conversed with them in the desert.

15and the men <FI>are<Fi> very good to us, and have not put us to shame, and we have not looked after anything all the days we have gone up and down with them, in our being in the field;

15But these men have been very good to us; they did us no wrong and nothing of ours was touched while we were with them in the fields:

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

16a wall they have been unto us both by night and by day, all the days of our being with them, feeding the flock.

16But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep.

17Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do: for evil is determined against thy husband, and against thy house, and he is a son of Belial, so that no man can speak to him.

17`And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he <FI>is<Fi> too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'

17So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him.

18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon asses:

18And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth <FI>them<Fi> on the asses.

18Then Abigail quickly took two hundred cakes of bread and two skins full of wine and five sheep ready for cooking and five measures of dry grain and a hundred parcels of dry grapes and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them on asses.

19And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold, I will follow after you: but she told not her husband, Nabal.

19And she saith to her young men, `Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared <FI>it<Fi> ;

19And she said to her young men, Go on in front of me and I will come after you. But she said nothing to her husband Nabal.

20And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming down to the foot of the mountain, David and his men came down over against her, and she met them.

20and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them.

20Now while she was going down under cover of the mountain on her ass, David and his men came down against her, and suddenly she came face to face with them.

21And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this fellow in the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.

21And David said, `Only, in vain I have kept all that this <FI>one<Fi> hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;

21Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good.

22May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of David, if I leave of all that belong to him till the morning, any that pisseth against the wall.

22thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning--of those sitting on the wall.'

22May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.

23And when Abigail saw David, she made haste and lighted off the ass, and fell before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground.

23And Abigail seeth David, and hasteth and cometh down from off the ass, and falleth before David on her face, and boweth herself to the earth,

23And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him.

24And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be, my lord: let thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears, and hear the words of thy servant.

24and falleth at his feet and saith, `On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray thee, thy handmaid speak in thine ear, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

24And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant.

25Let not my lord the king, I pray thee, regard this naughty man, Nabal: for according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him: but I, thy handmaid, did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest.

25`Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name <FI>is<Fi> so <FI>is<Fi> he; Nabal <FI>is<Fi> his name, and folly <FI>is<Fi> with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send;

25Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent.

26Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to thee: and now let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord.

26and now, my lord, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Jehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee--now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.

26So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal.

27Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.

27`And, now, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord--it hath been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord.

27And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.

28Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord: let not evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life.

28`Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee <FI>all<Fi> thy days.

28And may the sin of your servant have forgiveness: for the Lord will certainly make your family strong, because my lord is fighting in the Lord's war; and no evil will be seen in you all your days.

29For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord thy God: but the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the violence and whirling of a sling.

29And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.

29And though a man has taken up arms against you, putting your life in danger, still the soul of my lord will be kept safe among the band of the living with the Lord your God; and the souls of those who are against you he will send violently away from him, like stones from a bag.

30And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince over Israel,

30`And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel,

30And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel;

31This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when the Lord shall have done well by my lord, thou shalt remember thy handmaid.

31that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord--either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.'

31Then you will have no cause for grief, and my lord's heart will not be troubled because you have taken life without cause and have yourself given punishment for your wrongs: and when the Lord has been good to you, then give a thought to your servant.

32And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech:

32And David saith to Abigail, `Blessed <FI>is<Fi> Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me,

32And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today:

33And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to day from coming to blood, and revenging me with my own hand.

33and blessed <FI>is<Fi> thy discretion, and blessed <FI>art<Fi> thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself.

33A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs.

34Otherwise, as the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, who hath withholden me from doing thee any evil, if thou hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall.

34And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.'

34For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal's house so much as one male living.

35And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and said to her: Go in peace into thy house, behold I have heard thy voice, and honoured thy face.

35And David receiveth from her hand that which she hath brought to him, and to her he hath said, `Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accept thy face.'

35Then David took from her hands her offering: and he said to her, Go back to your house in peace; see, I have given ear to your voice, and taken your offering with respect.

36And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast in his house, like the feast of a king: and Nabal's heart was merry, for he was very drunk: and she told him nothing less or more until morning.

36And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal <FI>is<Fi> glad within him, and he <FI>is<Fi> drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning.

36And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came.

37But early in the morning, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

37And it cometh to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declareth to him these things, and his heart dieth within him, and he hath been as a stone.

37And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal's wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone.

38And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

38And it cometh to pass, <FI>in<Fi> about ten days, that Jehovah smiteth Nabal, and he dieth,

38And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him.

39And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my reproach, at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.

39and David heareth that Nabal <FI>is<Fi> dead, and saith, `Blessed <FI>is<Fi> Jehovah who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant hath kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal hath Jehovah turned back on his own head;' and David sendeth and speaketh with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife.

39And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife.

40And David's servants came to Abigail, to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife.

40And the servants of David come in unto Abigail at Carmel, and speak unto her, saying, `David hath sent us unto thee to take thee to him for a wife.'

40And when David's servants came to Carmel, to Abigail, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.

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

41And she riseth and boweth herself--face to the earth--and saith, `Lo, thy handmaid <FI>is<Fi> for a maid-servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.'

41And she got up, and going down on her face to the earth, said, See, I am ready to be a servant-girl, washing the feet of the servants of my lord.

42And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.

42And Abigail hasteth and riseth, and rideth on the ass; and five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goeth after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife.

42Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife.

43Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they were both of them his wives.

43And Ahinoam hath David taken from Jezreel, and they are--even both of them--to him for wives;

43And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives.

44But Saul gave Michol, his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of Lais, who was of Gallim.

44and Saul gave Michal his daughter, wife to David, to Phalti son of Laish, who <FI>is<Fi> of Gallim.

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