Christian Standard Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Samuel died, and all Israel assembled to mourn for him, and they buried him by his home in Ramah. David then went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

1Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

2A man in Maon had a business in Carmel; he was a very rich man with three thousand sheep and one thousand goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel

3The man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

3(now the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),

4While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep,

4that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

5so David sent ten young men instructing them, "Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him in my name.

5So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him in my name;

6Then say this: 'Long life to you, and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours.

6and thus you shall say, 'Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

7I hear that you are 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.

7'Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel.

8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.'"

8Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.'"

9David's young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David's behalf, and they waited.

9When David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name; then they waited.

10Nabal asked them, "Who is David? Who is Jesse's son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters.

10But Nabal answered David's servants and said, "Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master.

11Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don't know where they are from."

11"Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?"

12David's young men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words.

12So David's young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words.

13He said to his men, "All of you, put on your swords!" So each man put on his sword, and David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

13David said to his men, "Each of you gird on his sword." So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.

14One of Nabal's young men informed Abigail, Nabal's wife: "Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.

14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he scorned them.

15The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren't harassed and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them.

15"Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields.

16They were a wall around us, both day and night, the entire time we were with them herding the sheep.

16"They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep.

17Now consider carefully what you should do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him!"

17"Now therefore, know and consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him."

18Abigail hurried, taking two hundred loaves of bread, two clay jars of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

19Then she said to her male servants, "Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

19She said to her young men, "Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming toward her and met them.

20It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them.

21David had just said, "I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good.

21Now David had said, "Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.

22May God punish me and do so severely if I let any of his males survive until morning."

22"May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much as one male of any who belong to him."

23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and knelt down with her face to the ground and paid homage to David.

23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground.

24She knelt at his feet and said, "The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant.

24She fell at his feet and said, "On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.

25My lord should pay no attention to this worthless fool Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means 'stupid,' and stupidity is all he knows. I, your servant, didn't see my lord's young men whom you sent.

25"Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

26Now my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live--it is the LORD who kept you from participating in bloodshed and avenging yourself by your own hand--may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.

26"Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal.

27Let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.

27"Now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord.

28Please forgive your servant's offense, for the LORD is certain to make a lasting dynasty for my lord because he fights the LORD's battles. Throughout your life, may evil not be found in you.

28"Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil will not be found in you all your days.

29"Someone is pursuing you and intends to take your life. My lord's life is tucked safely in the place where the LORD your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies' lives like stones from a sling.

29"Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

30When the LORD does for my lord all the good he promised you and appoints you ruler over Israel,

30"And when the LORD does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel,

31there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord's revenge. And when the LORD does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant."

31this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant."

32Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!

32Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,

33May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.

33and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

34Otherwise, as surely as the LORD God of Israel lives, who prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, Nabal wouldn't have had any males left by morning light."

34"Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male."

35Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, "Go home in peace. See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request."

35So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request."

36Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. Nabal's heart was cheerful, and he was very drunk, so she didn't say anything to him until morning light.

36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light.

37In the morning when Nabal sobered up, his wife told him about these events. His heart died and he became a stone.

37But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone.

38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.

39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD who championed my cause against Nabal's insults and restrained his servant from doing evil. The LORD brought Nabal's evil deeds back on his own head." Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him.

39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head." Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

40When David's servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, "David sent us to bring you to him as a wife."

40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you to take you as his wife."

41She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground, and said, "Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord's servants."

41She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, "Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord's servants."

42Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David's messengers. And so she became his wife.

42Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and the two of them became his wives.

43David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.

44But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

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

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

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