Berean Study Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David set out and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

1Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel

3His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

3(now the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),

4While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

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

5So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

5So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him in my name;

6and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and your house and to all that belongs to you.

6and thus you shall say, 'Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

7Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

7'Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel.

8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

8Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.'"

9When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.

9When David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name; then they waited.

10But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

10But Nabal answered David's servants and said, "Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master.

11Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

11"Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?"

12So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.

12So David's young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words.

13And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

13David said to his men, "Each of you gird on his sword." So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.

14Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scolded them.

14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he scorned them.

15Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.

15"Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields.

16They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.

16"They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep.

17Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”

17"Now therefore, know and consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him."

18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys

18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

19and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

19She said to her young men, "Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

20It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them.

21Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good.

21Now David had said, "Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.

22May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”

22"May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much as one male of any who belong to him."

23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.

23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground.

24She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.

24She fell at his feet and said, "On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.

25My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

25"Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

26Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

26"Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal.

27Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

27"Now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord.

28Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

28"Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil will not be found in you all your days.

29And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

29"Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

30When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,

30"And when the LORD does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel,

31then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your maidservant.”

31this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant."

32Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!

32Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,

33Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

33and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

34Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

34"Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male."

35Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

35So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request."

36When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light.

37In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone.

37But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone.

38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.

39On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage.

39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head." Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

40When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you to take you as his wife."

41She arose, then bowed facedown and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

41She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, "Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord's servants."

42So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

42Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

43David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.

44But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

44Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

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