1 Samuel 25

NEW JERUSALEM	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 Samuel died and all Israel assembled to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Davidthen set off and went down to the desert of Maon.	1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 Now, there was a man in Maon whose business was at Carmel; the man was very rich: he ownedthree thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was then at Carmel, having his sheep shorn.	2 And 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.
3 The man's name was Nabal and his wife's Abigail. She was a woman of intel igence and beauty, butthe man was miserly and churlish. He was a Calebite.	3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman 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.
4 When David heard in the desert that Nabal was at his sheepshearing,	4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5 he sent ten men off, having said to them, 'Go up to Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him from me.	5 And David sent out 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:
6 And this is what you are to say to my brother, "Peace to you, peace to your family, peace to al that isyours!	6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
7 I hear that you now have the shearers; your shepherds were with us recently: we did not molest them,nor did they lose anything al the while they were at Carmel.	7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask your young men and they wil tel you. I hope that you will give the men a welcome, coming as wedo on a festival. Whatever you have to hand please give to your servants and to your son David." '	8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 David's men went and said al this to Nabal for David, and waited.	9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
10 Nabal retorted to the men in David's service, 'Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?	10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
11 There are many servants nowadays who run away from their masters. Am I to take my bread and mywine and the meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men who come from I know not where?'	11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 David's men turned on their heels and went back, and on their arrival told him exactly what had beensaid.	12 So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
13 David then said to his men, 'Every man buckle on his sword!' And they buckled on their swords, andDavid buckled on his too; about four hundred fol owed David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.	13 And 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 stuff.
14 Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife. He said, 'David sent messengers from thedesert to greet our master, but he flared up at them.	14 But 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 on them.
15 Now, these men were very good to us; they did not molest us and we lost nothing al the time we hadanything to do with them while we were out in the country.	15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
16 Night and day, they were like a rampart to us, al the time we were with them, minding the sheep.	16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
17 So now make up your mind what you should do, for the ruin of our master and his whole family is acertainty, and he is such a brute that no one can say a word to him.'	17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
18 Abigail hastily took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready prepared, five measuresof roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs and loaded them on donkeys.	18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
19 She said to her servants, 'Go on ahead, I shal fol ow you' -- but she did not tel her husband Nabal.	19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
20 As she was riding her donkey down behind a fold in the mountain, David and his men happened tobe coming down in her direction; and she met them.	20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.
21 Now, David had decided, 'It was a waste of time my guarding al this man's property in the desert sothat he lost nothing at all! He has repaid me bad for good.	21 Now 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 requited me evil for good.
22 May God bring unnameable il s on David and worse ones, too, if by morning I leave a single manjackalive of all who belong to him!'	22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
23 As soon as Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted from the donkey and, falling on her face infront of David, prostrated herself on the ground.	23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24 She fell at his feet and said, 'Let me take the blame, my lord. Let your servant speak in your ear;listen to what your servant has to say!	24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25 My lord, please pay no attention to this brute Nabal for his nature is like his name; "Brute" is hisname and brutal he is. But I, your servant, did not see the men whom my lord sent.	25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
26 And now, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, by Yahweh who kept you from the crimeof bloodshed and from taking vengeance with your own hand, may your enemies and al those ill-disposedtowards you become like Nabal.	26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
27 As for the present which your servant has brought my lord, I should like this to be given to the men inyour service.	27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
28 Please forgive your servant for any offence I have given you, for Yahweh wil certainly assure you ofa lasting dynasty, since you are fighting Yahweh's battles and no fault has been found in you throughout yourlife.	28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
29 Should anyone set out to hunt you down and try to kil you, your life wil be kept close in the wal et oflife with Yahweh your God, while your enemies' lives he wil fling out of the pouch of the sling.	29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30 Once Yahweh has done for you al the good things which he has said he will do for you, and madeyou ruler of Israel,	30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
31 you must have no anxiety, my lord, no remorse, over having wantonly shed blood, over having takena revenge. When Yahweh has done wel by you, then remember your servant.'	31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
32 David said to Abigail, 'Blessed be Yahweh, God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!	32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 Blessed be your wisdom and blessed you yourself for today having restrained me from the crime ofbloodshed and from exacting revenge!	33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
34 But as Yahweh, God of Israel, lives, who prevented me from harming you, had you not hurried out tomeet me, I swear Nabal would not have had a single manjack left alive by morning!'	34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
35 David then accepted what she had brought him and said, 'Go home in peace; yes, I have listened toyou and have pardoned you.'	35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
36 Abigail returned to Nabal. He was holding a feast, a princely feast, in his house; Nabal was in highspirits, and as he was very drunk she told him nothing at al til it was daylight.	36 And 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.
37 In the morning, when Nabal's wine had left him and his wife told him everything that had happened,his heart died within him and he became like a stone.	37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38 About ten days later Yahweh struck Nabal, and he died.	38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, 'Blessed be Yahweh for having defended my causeover the insult which I received from Nabal, and for having restrained his servant from doing wrong! Yahweh hasmade Nabal's wickedness rebound on his own head!'	39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head, And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
40 David then sent Abigail an offer of marriage. When the men in David's service came to Abigail atCarmel, they said, 'David has sent us to take you to him, to be his wife.'	40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee to take thee to him to wife.
41 She stood up, then prostrated herself on the ground. 'Consider your servant a slave', she said, 'towash the feet of my lord's servants.'	41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 Quickly Abigail stood up again and mounted a donkey; fol owed by five of her servant-girls, shefol owed David's messengers and became his wife.	42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel and he kept them both as wives.	43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.
44 Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, from Gal im.	44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.