1 Samuel
1 Samuel 25 ©
1 Samuel dieth: David goeth to Paran. 2 The characters of Nabal and Abigail. 4 David sendeth a message to Nabal. 10 Provoked by Nabal's churlish answer, he setteth forth to destroy him. 14 Abigail is informed thereof: 18 she meeteth David with a present, and entreateth his pardon. 32 David blesseth God and her for so timely an interposition, and dismisseth her courteously. 36 Nabal, stricken with her relation of the matter, dieth. 39 David again blesseth God, and marrieth Abigail and Ahinoam. 44 His wife Michal is given to Phalti.
And there was a man in Maon, dwhose 1possessions were in eCarmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was fa woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was g*churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of hCaleb.
¶And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did ishear his sheep.
And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and 2greet him in my name:
And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, jPeace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we 3hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and 4ceased.
And David said unto his men, rGird ye on every man his sword. And they *girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: sand there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred tabode by the stuff.
¶But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to usalute our master; and he 6*railed on them.
And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, eand lighted off the ass, and ffell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
Let not my lord, I pray thee, 10regard this iman of Belial, even 11Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
Now therefore, my lord, jas the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from 12avenging thyself with thine own hand, now klet thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
And now this 13blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that 14follow my lord.
I pray thee, forgive the l*trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD mwill certainly make my lord na sure house; because my lord fighteth othe battles of the LORD, and pevil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be qbound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he rsling out, as 15out of the middle of a sling.
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;
For in very deed, was 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.
¶And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held za feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was avery drunken: wherefore she btold him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
¶And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, eBlessed be the LORD, that hath fpleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath gkept his servant from evil: for hthe LORD hath ireturned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, jto take her to him to wife.
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.