| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. | 1Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. |
| 2And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. | 2There was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. This man was very wealthy; he owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. |
| 3Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. | 3The man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was both wise and beautiful, but the man was harsh and his deeds were evil. He was a Calebite. |
| 4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. | 4When David heard in the desert that Nabal was shearing his sheep, |
| 5So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. | 5he sent ten servants, saying to them, "Go up to Carmel to see Nabal and give him greetings in my name. |
| 6And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. | 6Then you will say to my brother, "Peace to you and your house! Peace to all that is yours! |
| 7I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. | 7Now I hear that they are shearing sheep for you. When your shepherds were with us, we neither insulted them nor harmed them the whole time they were in Carmel. |
| 8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” | 8Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come at the time of a holiday. Please provide us--your servants and your son David--with whatever you can spare." |
| 9When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. | 9So David's servants went and spoke all these words to Nabal in David's name. Then they paused. |
| 10And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. | 10But Nabal responded to David's servants, "Who is David, and who is this son of Jesse? This is a time when many servants are breaking away from their masters! |
| 11Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” | 11Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don't even know where they came from!" |
| 12So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. | 12So David's servants went on their way. When they had returned, they came and told David all these things. |
| 13And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. | 13Then David instructed his men, "Each of you strap on your sword!" So each one strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men followed David up, while two hundred stayed behind with the equipment. |
| 14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. | 14But one of the servants told Nabal's wife Abigail, "David sent messengers from the desert to greet our lord, but he screamed at them. |
| 15Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. | 15These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together in the field. |
| 16They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. | 16Both night and day they were a protective wall for us the entire time we were with them, while we were tending our flocks. |
| 17Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.” | 17Now be aware of this, and see what you can do. For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household. He is such a wicked person that no one tells him anything!" |
| 18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. | 18So Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two containers of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred lumps of pressed figs. She loaded them on donkeys |
| 19And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. | 19and said to her servants, "Go on ahead of me. I will come after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal. |
| 20And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. | 20Riding on her donkey, she went down under cover of the mountain. David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she encountered them. |
| 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. | 21Now David had been thinking, "In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the desert. I didn't take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil. |
| 22God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” | 22God will severely punish David, if I leave alive until morning even one male from all those who belong to him!" |
| 23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. | 23When Abigail saw David, she got down quickly from the donkey, threw herself down before David, and bowed to the ground. |
| 24She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. | 24Falling at his feet, she said, "My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant! |
| 25Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. | 25My lord should not pay attention to this wicked man Nabal. He simply lives up to his name! His name means 'fool,' and he is indeed foolish! But I, your servant, did not see the servants my lord sent. |
| 26Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. | 26"Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and as surely as you live, it is the LORD who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands. Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal. |
| 27And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. | 27Now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the servants who follow my lord. |
| 28Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. | 28Please forgive the sin of your servant, for the LORD will certainly establish the house of my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD. May no evil be found in you all your days! |
| 29If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. | 29When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag of the living by the LORD your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling's pocket! |
| 30And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, | 30The LORD will do for my lord everything that he promised you, and he will make you a leader over Israel. |
| 31my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” | 31Your conscience will not be overwhelmed with guilt for having poured out innocent blood and for having taken matters into your own hands. When the LORD has granted my lord success, please remember your servant." |
| 32And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! | 32Then David said to Abigail, "Praised be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me! |
| 33Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! | 33Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands! |
| 34For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” | 34Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives--he who has prevented me from harming you--if you had not come so quickly to meet me, by morning's light not even one male belonging to Nabal would have remained alive!" |
| 35Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.” | 35Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, "Go back to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you and responded favorably." |
| 36And 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 told him nothing at all until the morning light. | 36When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing until morning's light. |
| 37In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. | 37In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. |
| 38And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. | 38After about ten days the LORD struck Nabal down and he died. |
| 39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. | 39When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Praised be the LORD who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal! The LORD has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds." Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife. |
| 40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” | 40So the servants of David went to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, "David has sent us to you to bring you back to be his wife." |
| 41And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” | 41She arose, bowed her face toward the ground, and said, "Your female servant, like a lowly servant, will wash the feet of the servants of my lord." |
| 42And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife. | 42Then Abigail quickly went and mounted her donkey, with five of her female servants accompanying her. She followed David's messengers and became his wife. |
| 43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. | 43David had also married Ahinoam from Jezreel; the two of them became his wives. |
| 44Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim. | 44(Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.) |
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