1 SamuelChapter 25

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¹Samuel died. All Israel gathered and mourned for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the Wilderness of Paran. ²There was a man in Maon who had a business in Carmel. He was very rich. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep. He was cutting the wool from his sheep in Carmel. ³His name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was wise and beautiful. But her husband was harsh and evil in the way he treated people. He was from the family of Caleb. ⁴David was in the wilderness. He heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. ⁵So David sent ten young men. He told them, "Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him for me. ⁶Say to him, 'Long life to you! Peace to you and your family! Peace to everything that is yours! ⁷I hear that it's time for cutting the sheep's wool. When your shepherds were with us, we didn't bother them. Nothing of theirs went missing the whole time they were in Carmel. ⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So please be kind to my young men. We have come on a day of feasting. Please give whatever you can to your servants and to your son David.'" ⁹David's young men arrived. They gave Nabal this whole message from David. Then they waited. ¹⁰But Nabal asked them, "Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? These days many servants are running away from their masters. ¹¹Why should I take my bread and water and give it to them? Why should I give them the meat I killed for my workers who cut the wool? I don't even know where these men come from!" ¹²So David's men turned around and went back. They told him everything Nabal had said. ¹³David said to his men, "Strap on your swords!" So David and all his men strapped on their swords. About four hundred men went with David. Two hundred stayed with the supplies. ¹⁴Meanwhile, one of Nabal's young men told Nabal's wife Abigail what happened. "Look," he said, "David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master. But he yelled at them. ¹⁵But these men were very good to us. When we were out in the fields, no one bothered us. Nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived near them. ¹⁶They were like a wall around us night and day. They protected us the whole time we were taking care of our sheep near them. ¹⁷Now think hard about what you should do. Disaster is about to fall on our master and his whole family. He is such a worthless man that no one can talk to him!" ¹⁸Abigail hurried. She took two hundred loaves of bread and two skin bags of wine. She took five sheep ready to cook and about a bushel of roasted grain. She took a hundred bunches of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys.a ¹⁹She said to her young men, "Go on ahead of me. I'll be right behind you." But she didn't tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain valley. She saw David and his men coming down toward her. And she met them. ²¹David had just said, "It was no use! I guarded everything this man owned in the wilderness. Nothing of his went missing. But he has paid me back evil for good. ²²May God punish me, David, very hard if I let even one male of Nabal's family live until morning!" ²³Abigail saw David. She quickly got off her donkey. She bowed down in front of him with her face to the ground. ²⁴She fell at his feet and said, "My master, let the blame be on me alone. But please let me, your servant, speak to you. Listen to what your servant has to say. ²⁵My master, please pay no attention to this worthless man Nabal. He is just like his name. His name means Fool, and he acts like a fool. And I, your servant, did not see the young men you sent, my master. ²⁶Now, my master, the LORD has kept you from killing. He has kept you from getting revenge with your own hand. As surely as the LORD lives, and as surely as you live, may your enemies be like Nabal. May all who want to harm you, my master, be like him. ²⁷Here is a gift that I, your servant, have brought to you, my master. Let it be given to the young men who follow you. ²⁸Please forgive me, your servant, for doing wrong. The LORD will surely give you a family of kings that will last. That's because you fight the LORD's battles, my master. May no evil be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹If someone chases you and tries to kill you, then your life, my master, will be held safe by the LORD your God, like something tied up in the bundle of the living. But he will throw away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling. ³⁰The LORD will do for you, my master, all the good he has promised. He will make you ruler over Israel. ³¹When that happens, you won't feel sorry or guilty for killing people for no reason or for taking revenge. And when the LORD has been good to you, my master, please remember me, your servant." ³²David said to Abigail, "Praise the LORD, the God of Israel! He sent you to meet me today! ³³May you be blessed for your good sense! And may you be blessed! Today you kept me from killing. You kept me from getting revenge with my own hand. ³⁴The LORD, the God of Israel, has kept me from harming you. As surely as he lives, if you hadn't come quickly to meet me, not one male of Nabal's family would have been left alive by morning." ³⁵Then David took from her hand what she had brought him. He said to her, "Go home in peace. I have listened to you. I will do what you asked." ³⁶Abigail went back to Nabal. He was in the house having a feast like a king's feast. He was in a happy mood and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until morning. ³⁷In the morning Nabal was sober. Then his wife told him about all these things. His heart failed inside him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. ³⁹David heard that Nabal was dead. He said, "Praise the LORD! Nabal insulted me, but the LORD took my side. He kept me, his servant, from doing evil. The LORD brought Nabal's evil back down on his own head." Then David sent a message to Abigail. He asked her to become his wife. ⁴⁰His servants came to Abigail at Carmel. They said to her, "David has sent us to take you to be his wife." ⁴¹She got up and bowed down with her face to the ground. She said, "I am your servant. I'm ready to serve you. I'll even wash the feet of my master's servants." ⁴²Abigail hurried and got on a donkey. Five of her young women went with her. She followed David's messengers and became his wife. ⁴³David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So both of them were his wives. ⁴⁴But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti son of Laish. Palti was from Gallim.