UST 1SA Chapter 25

◄ 1SA 25 ► ║ ═ ©

25 Soon after that, Samuel died, and people from throughout Israel gathered and mourned for him. They buried his body outside his home in Ramah. Then David and his men moved to the desolate area of Paran. 2 In the town of Maon there lived a man who kept his flocks at the nearby village of Carmel. He was very rich. He owned 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was shearing his sheep at Carmel at this time. 3 This man’s name was Nabal. He was a descendant of Caleb. His wife Abigail was a wise and beautiful woman, but Nabal himself was very cruel. He treated people very unkindly. 4 One day while David and his men were in the desolate area nearby, someone told him that Nabal's workers were cutting the wool off his sheep. 5 So David decided to send ten of his soldiers to ask Nabal respectfully for some of the food from the celebration he was hosting while they were cutting off the wool. He told them, “Go to Carmel and visit Nabal and greet him warmly for me. 6 Then tell him this from me: ‘I wish you all the best! I hope everything is going well for you and your family and for all of your possessions. 7 I have a small request. People have told me that you now have workers cutting the wool from your sheep. My soldiers and I were in the same area where your shepherds were tending those sheep. But the whole time they were with us near Carmel, we did not harm them, and we did not steal any sheep from them. 8 You can ask your own servants about this, and they will tell you that it is true. We have come here at a time when you are celebrating, so I ask you please to be generous to us and send back with these men something from the feast that you have prepared for this occasion. David regards you respectfully as a benefactor.’ ” 9 So David’s men went to Carmel and told Nabal everything that David had told them to say for him. Then they waited for Nabal to reply. 10 But Nabal replied, “This David, this son of Jesse, does not deserve to receive anything from me! There are many slaves who are running away from their masters at the present time, and he is just one of them. 11 I have prepared food and drink for the men who are cutting the wool from my sheep. I have even killed some of my animals so that I can serve them meat. But I am not going to take any of those things and give them to a group of men who are just wandering the countryside.” 12 So David’s men left and went back and told him all that Nabal had said to them. 13 When he heard this, David told his men, “We are going to kill Nabal! Each of you, fasten on your swords!” So they did, and David fastened on his own sword. Then 400 of the men went with David to Carmel, while 200 of them stayed behind to guard their supplies. 14 One of Nabal’s servants found out what David and his men were planning to do, so he went to Nabal’s wife Abigail and told her, “Please listen. David sent some messengers here to speak politely with our master Nabal, but he only yelled at them. 15 All the time that we were close to them while we were in the fields, David’s men were very kind to us. They did not harm us, and they did not steal anything from us. 16 The whole time we were with them while we were tending the sheep, they continually kept any people or animals from hurting us and from taking any sheep. 17 So please consider this situation and think of something that you can do about it. David has already decided to hurt our master and all of us in his household. Nabal is a very bad man, so he will not listen to anyone who tries to tell him what he should do.” 18 When Abigail heard that, she very quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, two leather bags full of wine, the meat from five sheep, nearly 40 liters of roasted grain, 100 packs of raisins, and 200 packs of dried figs. She put all those things on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Bring these things to David as fast as you can. Do not wait for me. I will follow you as quickly as I can.” But she did not tell her husband what she was doing. 20 Abigail was riding on her donkey, and she was coming down the slope of a hill. Just then David and his men were coming down the slope of an opposite hill. So they met at the bottom. 21 David had been saying to his men, “It was useless for us to protect that man and all his possessions here in this desolate area. We did not steal anything that belonged to him. In return for our good actions toward him, he has acted badly toward us! 22 I hope that God will kill me if by tomorrow morning I have not killed Nabal and every male person in his household!” 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey and bowed respectfully before him with her face touching the ground. 24 Then she came and knelt at David’s feet and said to him, “Sir, I accept the blame for the way we have mistreated you. But now please let me explain, and listen carefully to what I have to say to you. 25 Please do not pay any attention to how this bad man Nabal has insulted you. His name suits him perfectly. His name means “fool,” and he surely is foolish. Now I did not see the messengers you sent to him. If I had, I would certainly have given them plenty of food from our feast. 26 Please listen to me, sir. I swear by Yahweh and I swear by your own life that Yahweh has allowed me to meet you here on the road in order to prevent you from killing many people yourself instead of relying on Yahweh to protect you. I hope that anyone who is trying to hurt you becomes someone that no one should pay any attention to, just like Nabal. 27 You have received the food that I sent on ahead of me. It is a present for you and for the men who are with you. 28 So please forgive this offense, for which I consider myself responsible. Because you have been fighting against Yahweh’s enemies, he will certainly make you king of Israel and then allow many of your descendants to become king after you. So please do not do anything terrible that you will regret for as long as you live. 29 Even if someone searches for you to try to kill you, Yahweh your God will make sure that you stay alive, as if he had wrapped you up securely for protection. He will make your enemies die instead. They will die as swiftly as a stone flies that someone hurls from a sling. 30 Yahweh has promised to do good things for you, and he will do all those things for you. He will cause you to become the ruler of the Israelite people. When that happens, 31 you will not feel great guilt and grief. You will not have killed many innocent people yourself instead of relying on Yahweh to protect you. When Yahweh does the good things he has promised to do for you, then you will remember what I told you today and you will be glad that you did what I said.” 32 David replied to Abigail, “I thank Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, for sending you to speak with me today. 33 I thank him for your wisdom, and I thank him that you kept me today from killing many people myself instead of relying on Yahweh to protect me. 34 I will swear something to you by Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, who has prevented me from hurting you. If you had not come so quickly to speak with me, not a single male in your household would have still been alive by dawn tomorrow.” 35 Then David accepted the gifts that Abigail had brought to him. He told her, “You may return home and not fear that we will attack you. I surely agree with what you told me, so I will do what you have asked.” 36 When Abigail returned home to Nabal, she found that he was having a big celebration such as kings have. He was feeling very happy, and he had gotten very drunk. So Abigail did not say anything at all to him that night about her meeting with David. 37 The next morning, when Nabal was no longer drunk, his wife told him how David and his men had been just about to kill him and all the other men in the household. He became so distressed that he had a stroke and could no longer move. 38 About ten days later Yahweh caused something further to happen to Nabal so that he died. 39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “I praise Yahweh! Nabal insulted me, but Yahweh has shown that I was right. He has prevented me from doing anything wrong, and he has punished Nabal for the wrong that he did to me.” Then David sent messengers to Abigail to ask her if she would become his wife. 40 David’s servants went to Abigail at Carmel and told her, “David sent us to bring you to him so that you could become his wife.” 41 Abigail got up from where she was sitting and bowed down with her face touching the ground. Then she told the messengers to tell David for her, “I will gladly serve you as your wife. I will do any task you require, even washing the feet of your servants as a slave would do.” 42 Abigail quickly got on her donkey and went with David’s messengers. Five of her female servants went with her. When she arrived where David was, he married her. 43 David also married Ahinoam, a woman from the city of Jezreel near Carmel. So both Abigail and Ahinoam were now also David’s wives. 44 King Saul’s daughter Michal was David’s wife, but Saul had given her to Palti son of Laish, who was from the town of Gallim.

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