CHAPTER 25
When Samuel
died,
all
Israel
gathered
to mourn
for him;
and they buried him
at his home
in Ramah.
Then David
set out
and went down
to
the Wilderness
of Paran.
Now there was a man
in Maon
whose business
was in Carmel;
he was a very
wealthy
man
with a thousand
goats
and three
thousand
sheep,
which he was
shearing
in Carmel.
His
name
was Nabal,
and his wife’s
name was
Abigail.
She was an intelligent
and beautiful
woman,
but her husband,
a Calebite,
was harsh
and evil
in his dealings.
and say to him,
‘Long life to you,
and peace
to you
and your house
and to all
that
belongs to you.
Now
I hear
that
it is time for shearing.
When your shepherds
were
with us,
we did not
harass them,
and nothing
of theirs was missing
the whole
time
they were
in Carmel.
Ask
your young men,
and they will tell you.
So let my young men
find
favor with you,
for
we have come
on
the day
of a feast.
Please
give
whatever
you can afford
to your servants
and to your son
David.’”
When David's
young men
arrived,
they relayed
all
these
words
to
Nabal
on behalf of David.
Then they waited.
But Nabal
asked
them,
“Who
is David?
Who is
this son of
Jesse?
Many
servants
these days
are breaking away
from
their masters.
Why should I take
my bread
and
water
and the meat
I have slaughtered
for my shearers,
and give
them to these men
whose origin
I do not
know?”
And David
said
to his men,
“Each of you,
put on
your swords!”
So David
and
all his men
put on
their swords,
and about four
hundred
men
followed
David,
while two hundred
stayed
with
the supplies.
Meanwhile, one
of Nabal’s
young men
informed
Nabal’s
wife
Abigail,
“Look,
David
sent
messengers
from the wilderness
to greet
our master,
but he scolded them.
Yet these men
were very
good
to us.
When we were
in the field,
we were not
harassed,
and nothing
of ours went missing
the whole
time
we lived
among them.
They were
a wall
around us,
both
day
and
night,
the whole
time
we were
herding
our sheep
near them.
Now
consider carefully
what
you must do,
because
disaster
looms
over
our master
and
all
his household.
For he is such
a scoundrel
that nobody can speak
to him!”
Abigail
hurried
and took
two hundred
loaves of bread,
two
skins
of wine,
five
butchered
sheep,
five
seahs
of roasted grain,
a hundred
clusters of raisins,
and two hundred
cakes of figs.
She loaded
them on
donkeys
and said
to her young men,
“Go
ahead of me.
I will be
right behind you.”
But she did not
tell
her husband
Nabal.
As Abigail
came riding
her donkey
into a mountain
ravine,
she saw
David
and his men
coming down
toward her,
and she met
them.
Now David
had just
finished saying,
“In vain
I have protected
all
that
belonged to this man
in the wilderness
so that nothing
was missed
of all
that
belongs to him,
yet he has paid me back
evil
for
good.
She fell
at
his feet
and said,
“My lord,
may the blame be
on me alone,
but please
let your servant
speak
to you;
hear
the words
of your servant.
My lord
should pay no
attention
to
this
worthless
man
Nabal,
for
he
lives up to his name:
His name
means Fool,
and folly
accompanies him.
I,
your servant,
did not
see
my lord’s
young men
whom
you sent.
Now,
my lord,
as surely as the LORD
lives
and you
yourself live,
the LORD
has held you back
from coming
to bloodshed
and avenging
yourself
with your own hand.
May your enemies
and those who seek
harm
for
my lord
be
like Nabal.
Please
forgive
your servant’s
offense,
for
the LORD
will surely
make
a lasting
dynasty
for my lord,
because
he
fights
the LORD’s
battles.
May no evil
be found
in you
as long as you live.
And should someone
pursue you
and seek
your life,
then the life
of my lord
will be
bound securely
in the bundle
of the living
with
the LORD
your God.
But
He shall fling away
the lives
of your enemies
like stones
from a sling.
When
the LORD
has done
for my lord
all
the good
He promised
and has appointed you
ruler
over
Israel,
then my lord
will have
no
remorse
or guilt
of conscience
over needless
bloodshed
and
revenge.
And when the LORD
has dealt well
with my lord,
may you remember
your maidservant.”
Then David
said
to Abigail,
“Blessed be
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
who
sent you
to meet me
this
day!
Blessed is
your discernment,
and blessed are
you,
because
today
you kept me
from bloodshed
and from avenging
myself by my own hand.
Otherwise,
as surely as the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
lives,
who
has restrained me
from harming
you,
if you had not
come
quickly
to meet me,
then surely
no
male
belonging to Nabal
would have been left alive
by
morning
light."
Then David
accepted
from her hand
what
she had brought
him,
and he said
to her,
“Go
home
in peace.
See,
I have heeded
your voice
and granted your request.”
When Abigail
returned
to
Nabal,
there
he was
in the house,
holding a feast
fit for a king,
in high
spirits
and very
drunk.
So she
told
him
nothing
until
morning
light.
In the morning
when Nabal
was sober,
his wife
told
him about these
events,
and his heart
failed
within him
and he
became
like a stone.
On hearing
that
Nabal
was dead,
David
said,
“Blessed be
the LORD
who
has upheld
my cause
against
the reproach
of Nabal
and
has restrained
His servant
from evil.
For
the LORD
has brought
the wickedness
of Nabal
down upon his own head."
Then David
sent
word
to Abigail,
asking
for her
in marriage.
When his
servants
came
to
Abigail
at Carmel,
they said,
“David
has sent us
to take you
as his wife.”
She arose,
then bowed
facedown
and said,
“Here is
your maidservant,
ready to serve
and to wash
the feet
of my lord’s
servants.”
So Abigail
hurried
and got on
a donkey,
and attended
by five
of her maidens,
she followed
David’s
messengers
and became
his wife.
But Saul
had given
his daughter
Michal,
David’s
wife,
to Palti
son
of Laish,
who was
from Gallim.