1Samuel - Chapter 25 | King James Version (KJV)

  • 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. And {cf15I there was} a man in Maon, whose possessions {cf15I were} in Carmel; and the man {cf15I was} very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
  • 3. Now the name of the man {cf15I was} Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and {cf15I she was} a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man {cf15I was} churlish and evil in his doings; and he {cf15I was} of the house of Caleb.
  • 4. And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
  • 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 thus shall ye say to him that liveth {cf15I in prosperity}, Peace {cf15I be} both to thee, and peace {cf15I be} to thine house, and peace {cf15I be} unto all that thou hast.
  • 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 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. And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
  • 10. And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who {cf15I is} David? and who {cf15I is} the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
  • 11. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give {cf15I it} unto men, whom I know not whence they {cf15I be}?
  • 12. So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
  • 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. 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. But the men {cf15I 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. They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
  • 17. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he {cf15I is such} a son of Belial, that {cf15I a man} cannot speak to him.
  • 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 {cf15I corn}, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid {cf15I them} on asses.
  • 19. And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
  • 20. And it was {cf15I 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 said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this {cf15I fellow} hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that {cf15I pertained} unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
  • 22. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that {cf15I pertain} to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
  • 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. And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, {cf15I upon} me {cf15I let this} iniquity {cf15I be}: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
  • 25. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, {cf15I even} Nabal: for as his name {cf15I is}, so {cf15I is} he; Nabal {cf15I is} his name, and folly {cf15I is} with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
  • 26. Now therefore, my lord, {cf15I as} the LORD liveth, and {cf15I as} thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to {cf15I 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. 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. 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 {cf15I all} thy days.
  • 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, {cf15I as out} of the middle of a sling.
  • 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. 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. And David said to Abigail, Blessed {cf15I be} the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
  • 33. And blessed {cf15I be} thy advice, and blessed {cf15I be} thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to {cf15I shed} blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
  • 34. For in very deed, {cf15I 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. So David received of her hand {cf15I 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. And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart {cf15I was} merry within him, for he {cf15I was} very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
  • 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 {cf15I as} a stone.
  • 38. And it came to pass about ten days {cf15I after}, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
  • 39. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed {cf15I 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. 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. And she arose, and bowed herself on {cf15I her} face to the earth, and said, Behold, {cf15I let} thine handmaid {cf15I be} a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
  • 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 also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.
  • 44. But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which {cf15I was} of Gallim.
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