1
And Samuel died; and all Israel came··together and bewailed him, and buried him in his house in Ramah. And David arose and went··down to▵ the wilderness of Paran.
2
And there was a man◦ in Maon, and his work◦ was in Carmel; and the man◦ was very great, and he had◦ a flock of three thousand, and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his flock in Carmel.
3
And the name of the man◦ was Nabal, and the name of his wife, Abigail; and the woman was of good intelligence, and beautiful of form◦; but the man◦ was hard and evil in his actions; and he was a Calebite.
4
And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his flock.
5
And David sent ten lads, and David said unto the lads, Go··up to Carmel and come to▵ Nabal, and ask for peace for him in my name.
6
And thus shall you say to him who lives: And thou◦ shalt have peace, and thy house, peace, and all that is thine, peace.
7
And now, I have heard that thou hast◦ shearers; now the shepherds whom thou◦ hast◦ have been with us. We have not humiliated them, and there was not anything missing for them all the days we were in Carmel.
8
Ask thy youths, and they will tell thee; and let the lads find grace in thine eyes; for we come on a good day; give, I pray◦ thee, what thy hand finds, to thy servants, and to thy son David.
9
And the lads of David came and spoke unto▵ Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and rested.
10
And Nabal answered the servants of David and said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today there are··many servants breaking· themselves ·off, each··man◦ from before his lord.
11
And shall I take my bread and my water, and what I have butchered, which I have butchered for my shearers, and give it unto men◦ whom I know not whence they◦ be?
12
And the lads of David turned in their way and returned and told him according··to all these words.
13
And David said unto his men◦, Gird ye on every man◦ his sword; and they girded on every man◦ his sword; and David also girded on his sword; and they went··up after David about four hundred men◦, and two··hundred sat by◦ the vessels.
14
But one lad from the lads told Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying, Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to bless our lord, and he* swooped down on◦ them.
15
And the men◦ were very good to us, and they did not humiliate us, neither missed we anything, all the days that we went◦ with◦ them, when we were in the field.
16
They were a wall unto us both◦ by night and◦ by··day all the days we were with them, pasturing the flock.
17
And now know and see what thou wilt do; for evil is determined* against▵ our lord and against all his house; and he◦ is a son of Belial, so that no one can speak to▵ him.
18
And Abigail hastened, and took two··hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine, and five of the flock made ready, and five seahs of parched··grain, and a hundred clusters··of··raisins, and two··hundred clumps of figs, and set them on the donkeys.
19
And she said unto her lads, Cross··over before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband◦, Nabal.
20
And it was, as she◦ rode on the donkey, and came··down into the hiding··place of the mountain, that behold, David and his men◦ came··down to meet her; and she encountered them.
21
And David had said, Surely in vain* have I kept all that this one has◦ in the wilderness, and not anything was missed of all that he had◦, and he has returned to me evil instead of good.
22
Thus shall God do to the enemies of David, and thus He shall do again, if I leave from all that is his until the light of the morning one that urinates against◦ a wall◦.
23
And Abigail saw David, and she hastened and came··down from the donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed· herself ·down to the earth.
24
And she fell at his feet and said, In me◦*, my lord, be the iniquity; and let thy maidservant speak, I pray◦, in thine ears, and hear the words of thy maidservant.
25
Let not my lord, I pray◦ thee, take it to heart as to▵ this man◦ of Belial, as to Nabal; for as his name is, so is he◦; Nabal* is his name, and folly is with him; but I◦, thy maidservant, saw not the lads of my lord, whom thou didst send.
26
And now, my lord, as Jehovah lives and as thy soul lives, Jehovah has withheld thee from coming with blood and letting thine own hand save thee; and now let thine enemies, and those who seek to do evil to▵ my lord, be as Nabal.
27
And now this blessing which thy handmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the lads who walk at the feet of my lord.
28
Forgive now◦ the transgression of thy maidservant; for Jehovah making shall make my lord a faithful house, because◦ my lord fights the battles of Jehovah; and evil shall not be··found in thee in thy days.
29
And man shall rise··up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, but the soul of my lord shall be bundled in the bundle of the living with◦ Jehovah thy God; and the soul of thine enemies shall He sling out from the midst of the hollow◦ of the sling.
30
And it shall be, when◦ Jehovah shall have done to my lord according··to all the good that He has spoken concerning thee, and shall have commanded thee to be monarch over Israel,
31
that this shall not be staggering to thee, nor◦ a stumbling of the heart to my lord; neither◦ hast thou shed blood without··cause, nor◦ has my lord saved himself; and Jehovah shall do··good to my lord, and thou shalt remember thy maidservant.
32
And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel, Who sent thee this day to meet me:
33
and blessed be thy discernment*, and blessed be thou◦, who hast held· me ·back this day from coming with blood and saving myself with my own hand.
34
And··certainly, Jehovah the God of Israel lives, who has withheld me from doing··evil to thee, for unless thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, surely there would not have remained to Nabal until the light of morning one who urinates against◦ a wall◦.
35
And David took from her hand that which she brought him; and unto her he said, Go··up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice and accepted thy face*.
36
And Abigail came to▵ Nabal; and behold, there was a feast for him in his house, as the feast of the king; and the heart of Nabal was good to him, and he◦ was very drunken; and she told him not a word, small or great, until the light of the morning.
37
And it was, in its morning, when the wine was gone··out of Nabal, that his wife told him these words, that his heart died within▫ him, and he◦ became as a stone.
38
And it was, in about ten days, that Jehovah struck Nabal, and he died.
39
And David heard that Nabal was dead, and he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the plea of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept··back his servant from evil; and the evil of Nabal has Jehovah returned upon his head. And David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
40
And the servants of David came unto▵ Abigail to Carmel, and they spoke unto▵ her, saying, David has sent us unto▵ thee, to take thee to him to wife.
41
And she arose and bowed· herself ·down with her face◦ to the earth, and said, Behold, let thy maidservant be for a handmaid to bathe the feet of the servants of my lord.
42
And Abigail hastened and arose, and rode upon the donkey, and five damsels of hers went◦ at her feet; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43
And David took Ahinoam from Jezreel, and they became even the two of them his wives.
44
But Saul gave Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti, the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
