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1 And Samuel died, and all Israel * assembled, and bewailed him, and they bury him in his house in † Armathaim: and David arose, and went down to the wilderness of ‡ Maon. 2 And there was a man in Maon, and his flocks were in Carmel, and he was a very great man; and he had § three thousand sheep, and a thousand she-goats: and he happened to be shearing his flock in Carmel. 3 And the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigaia: and his wife was of good understanding and very beautiful in person: but the man was harsh, and evil in his doings, and the man was churlish. 4 And David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal the Carmelite was shearing his sheep. 5 And David sent ten young men, and he said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name how ** he is. 6 And thus shall you⌃ say, May you and your house seasonably prosper, and all yours be †† in prosperity. 7 And now, behold, I have heard that your shepherds who were with us in the wilderness are shearing ‡‡ your sheep, and we hindered them not, neither did we demand any thing from them all the time they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your servants, and they will tell you. Let then your servants find grace in your eyes, for we are come on a good day; give we pray you, whatever your hand may find, to your son David. 9 So the servants come and speak these words to Nabal, according to all these words in the name of David. 10 And Nabal sprang up, and answered the servants of David, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jessae? Now-a-days there is abundance of servants who depart every one from his master. 11 And shall I take my bread, and my wine, and my §§ beasts that I have slain for *** my shearers, and shall I give them to men of whom I know not whence they are? 12 So the servants of David turned ††† back, and returned, and came and reported to David according to these words. 13 And David said to his men, Gird on every man his sword. ‡‡‡ And they went up after David, about four hundred men: and two hundred abode with the stuff. 14 And one of the servants reported to Abigaia the wife of Nabal, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our lord; but he turned away from them. 15 And the men were very good to us; they did not hinder us, neither did they demand from us any thing all the days that we were with them. 16 And when we were in the field, they were as a wall round about us, both by night and by day, all the days that we were with them feeding the flock. 17 And now do you consider, and see what you will do; for mischief is determined against our lord and against his house; and he is a vile character, and one can’t speak to him. 18 And Abigaia hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five ephahs of fine flour, and one homer of dried grapes, and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them upon asses. 19 And she said to her servants, Go on before me, and behold I come after you: but she told not her husband. 20 And it came to pass when she had mounted her ass and was going down by the covert of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down to meet her, and she met them. 21 And David said, Perhaps I have kept all his possessions in the wilderness that he should wrong me, and we did not order the taking anything of all his goods; yet he has rewarded me evil for good. 22 So God do to David and more also, if I leave one male of all that belong to Nabal until the morning. 23 And Abigaia saw David, and she hasted and alighted from her ass; and she fell before David on her face, and did obeisance to him, bowing to the ground 24 §§§even to his feet, and said, On me, my lord, be my wrong: let, I pray you, your servant speak in your ears, and hear you the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord, I pray you, take to heart this pestilent man, * for according to his name, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I your handmaid saw not the servants of my lord whom you did send. 26 And now, my lord, as the Lord lives, and your soul lives, as the Lord has kept you from coming against innocent blood, and † from executing vengeance for yourself, now therefore let your enemies, and those that seek evil against my lord, become as Nabal. 27 And now accept this ‡ token of goodwill, which your servant has brought to my lord, and you shall give it to the servants that wait on my lord. 28 Remove, I pray you, the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will surely make for my lord a sure house, for the Lord fights the battles of my lord, and there shall no evil be ever found in you. 29 And if a man shall rise up persecuting you and seeking your life, yet shall the life of my lord be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord God, and you shall whirl the life of your enemies as in the midst of a sling. 30 And it shall be when the Lord shall have wrought for my lord all the good things he has spoken concerning you, and shall appoint you to be ruler over Israel; 31 then this shall not be an abomination and offence to my lord, to have shed innocent blood without cause, and for my lord to have avenged himself: and so may the Lord do good to my lord, and you shall remember your handmaid to do her good. 32 And David said to Abigaia, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this very day to meet me: 33 and blessed be your conduct, and blessed be you, who have hindered me this very day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself. 34 But surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who hindered me this day from doing you harm, if you had not hasted and come to meet me, then I said, There shall surely not be left to Nabal till the morning one male. 35 And David took of her hand all that she brought to him, and said to her, Go in peace to your house: see, I have listened to your voice, and accepted your § petition. 36 And Abigaia came to Nabal: and, behold, he had a banquet in this house, as the banquet of a king, and the heart of Nabal was merry ** within him, and he was very drunken: and she told him nothing great or small till the morning light. 37 And it came to pass in the morning, when Nabal recovered from his wine, his wife told him these words; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And †† it came to pass after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. 39 And David heard it ‡‡ and said, Blessed be the Lord, who has judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and has delivered his servant §§ from the power of evil; and the Lord has returned the mischief of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and spoke concerning Abigaia, to take her to himself for a wife. 40 So the servants of David came to Abigaia to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you, to take you to himself for a wife. 41 And she arose, and did reverence with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, your servant is for an handmaid to wash the feet of your servants. 42 And Abigaia arose, and mounted her ass, and five damsels followed her: and she went after the servants of David, and became his wife. 43 And David took Achinaam out of Jezrael, and they were both his wives. 44 And Saul gave Melchol his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of *** Amis who was of ††† Romma.
* 25:1 Heb. Rama. Alex. Rama. † 25:1 Gr. assemble and bewail. ‡ 25:1 Alex. Paran. § 25:2 Lit. 3,000 flocks; as we say in English, 3,000 troops, meaning men formed into troops. ** 25:5 Gr. concerning peace. †† 25:6 Gr. in health. ‡‡ 25:7 Gr. for you. §§ 25:11 Gr. slaying. *** 25:11 Gr. them that shear my sheep. ††† 25:12 Gr. to their way. ‡‡‡ 25:13 Alex. and Heb.+ 'and they girded on every man his sword, and David also girded on his sword.' §§§ 25:24 Heb. and Alex.+ and she fell. * 25:25 Heb. and Alex.+ 'even Nabal' † 25:26 Gr. saving your hand for yourself. ‡ 25:27 Gr. blessing. § 25:35 Gr. face. ** 25:36 Gr. upon him. †† 25:38 Gr. there were about ten days, etc. ‡‡ 25:39 Heb. and Alex. insert 'that Nabal was dead. §§ 25:39 Or, from the hand of wicked men. *** 25:44 Heb. and Alex. Laish and Lais. ††† 25:44 Heb. and Alex. Gallim and Galli.