1 N ow Samuel died, and all the Israelites assembled and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. David arose and went to the Wilderness of Paran.

And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.

2 A very rich man was in Maon, whose possessions and business were in Carmel. He had 3, 000 sheep and 1, 000 goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

And a man in Maon, and his work in Carmel; and the man very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel.

3 T he man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail; she was a woman of good understanding, and beautiful. But the man was rough and evil in his doings; he was a Calebite.

And the name of the man Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man hard and evil doings; and he a Calebite.

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

And David heareth in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock,

5 A nd David sent out ten young men and said to, Go up to Carmel to Nabal and greet him in my name;

and David sendeth ten young men, and David saith to the young men, `Go ye up to Carmel, and ye have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare,

6 A nd salute him thus: Peace be to you and to your house and to all that you have.

and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast -- peace!

7 I have heard 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.

and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.

8 A sk your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight, for we come at an opportune time. I pray you, give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.

`Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.'

9 A nd when David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then paused.

And the young men of David come in, and speak unto Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David -- and rest.

10 A nd Nabal answered David’s servants and said, Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who are each breaking away from his master.

And Nabal answereth the servants of David and saith, `Who David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master;

11 S hall I then take my bread and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they belong?

and I have taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given to men whom I have not known whence they!'

12 S o David’s young men turned away, and came and told him all that was said.

And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all these words.

13 A nd David said to his men, Every man gird on his sword. And they did so, and David also girded on his sword; and there went up after David about 400 men, and 200 remained with the baggage.

And David saith to his men, `Gird ye on each his sword;' and they gird on each his sword, and David also girdeth on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels.

14 B ut one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed at them.

And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, `Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them;

15 B ut David’s men were very good to us, and we were not harmed, nor did we miss anything as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields.

and the men very good to us, and have not put us to shame, and we have not looked after anything all the days we have gone up and down with them, in our being in the field;

16 T hey were a wall to us night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep.

a wall they have been unto us both by night and by day, all the days of our being with them, feeding the flock.

17 S o know this and consider what you will do, for evil is determined against our master and all his house. For he is such a wicked man that one cannot speak to him.

`And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'

18 T hen Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five measures of parched grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.

And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth on the asses.

19 A nd she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

And she saith to her young men, `Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared;

20 A s she rode on her donkey, she came down hidden by the mountain, and behold, David and his men came down opposite her, and she met them.

and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them.

21 N ow David had said, Surely in vain have I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good.

And David said, `Only, in vain I have kept all that this hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;

22 M ay God do so, and more also, to David if I leave of all who belong to him one male alive by morning.

thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning -- of those sitting on the wall.'

23 W hen Abigail saw David, she hastened and lighted off the donkey, and fell before David on her face and did obeisance.

And Abigail seeth David, and hasteth and cometh down from off the ass, and falleth before David on her face, and boweth herself to the earth,

24 K neeling at his feet she said, Upon me alone let this guilt be, my lord. And let your handmaid, I pray you, speak in your presence, and hear the words of your handmaid.

and falleth at his feet and saith, `On me, my lord, the iniquity; and let, I pray thee, thy handmaid speak in thine ear, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

25 L et not my lord, I pray you, regard this foolish and wicked fellow Nabal, for as his name is, so is he—Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

`Let not, I pray thee, my lord set his heart to this man of worthlessness, on Nabal, for as his name so he; Nabal his name, and folly with him; and I, thine handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord whom thou didst send;

26 S o now, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, seeing that the Lord has prevented you from bloodguiltiness and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.

and now, my lord, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, in that Jehovah hath withheld thee from coming in with blood, and to save thy hand to thee -- now let thine enemies be as Nabal, even those seeking evil unto my lord.

27 A nd now this gift, which your handmaid has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

`And, now, this blessing which thy maid-servant hath brought to my lord -- it hath been given to the young men who are going up and down at the feet of my lord.

28 F orgive, I pray you, the trespass of your handmaid, for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the Lord’s battles, and evil has not been found in you all your days.

`Bear, I pray thee, with the transgression of thy handmaid, for Jehovah doth certainly make to my lord a stedfast house; for the battles of Jehovah hath my lord fought, and evil is not found in thee thy days.

29 T hough man is risen up to pursue you and to seek your life, yet the life of my lord shall be bound in the living bundle with the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies—them shall He sling out as out of the center of a sling.

And man riseth to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, and the soul of my lord hath been bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; as to the soul of thine enemies, He doth sling them out in the midst of the hollow of the sling.

30 A nd when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that He has promised concerning you and has made you ruler over Israel,

`And it hath been, when Jehovah doth to my lord according to all the good which He hath spoken concerning thee, and appointed thee for leader over Israel,

31 T his shall be no staggering grief to you or cause for pangs of conscience to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause or that my lord has avenged himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then '> earnestly] remember your handmaid.

that this is not to thee for a stumbling-block, and for an offence of heart to my lord -- either to shed blood for nought, or my lord's restraining himself; and Jehovah hath done good to my lord, and thou hast remembered thy handmaid.'

32 A nd David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, Who sent you this day to meet me.

And David saith to Abigail, `Blessed Jehovah, God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day to meet me,

33 A nd blessed be your discretion and advice, and blessed be you who have kept me today from bloodguiltiness and from avenging myself with my own hand.

and blessed thy discretion, and blessed thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself.

34 F or as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, Who has prevented me from hurting you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning there would not have been left so much as one male to Nabal.

And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.'

35 S o David accepted what she had brought him and said to her, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have hearkened to your voice and have granted your petition.

And David receiveth from her hand that which she hath brought to him, and to her he hath said, `Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accept thy face.'

36 A nd Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house like the feast of a king. And heart was merry, for he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.

And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal glad within him, and he drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning.

37 B ut in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife told him these things, his heart died within him and he became a stone.

And it cometh to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declareth to him these things, and his heart dieth within him, and he hath been as a stone.

38 A nd about ten days after that, the Lord smote Nabal and he died.

And it cometh to pass, about ten days, that Jehovah smiteth Nabal, and he dieth,

39 W hen David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, Who has pleaded the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and kept His servant from evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him as his wife.

and David heareth that Nabal dead, and saith, `Blessed Jehovah who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant hath kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal hath Jehovah turned back on his own head;' and David sendeth and speaketh with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife.

40 A nd when the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, David sent us to you to take you to him to be his wife.

And the servants of David come in unto Abigail at Carmel, and speak unto her, saying, `David hath sent us unto thee to take thee to him for a wife.'

41 A nd she arose and bowed herself to the earth and said, Behold, let your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

And she riseth and boweth herself -- face to the earth -- and saith, `Lo, thy handmaid for a maid-servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.'

42 A nd Abigail hastened and arose and rode on a donkey, with five of her maids who followed her, and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife.

And Abigail hasteth and riseth, and rideth on the ass; and five of her young women who are going at her feet; and she goeth after the messengers of David, and is to him for a wife.

43 D avid also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.

And Ahinoam hath David taken from Jezreel, and they are -- even both of them -- to him for wives;

44 S aul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

and Saul gave Michal his daughter, wife to David, to Phalti son of Laish, who of Gallim.