The Death of Samuel 1 ULT And Samuel died, and all of Israel gathered and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. Then David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. BSB BSB: When 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.
David, Nabal, and Abigail 2 ULT Now a man{ was} in Maon, and his work{ was} in Carmel. And the man{ was} very great. For to him{ were} 3, 000 sheep and 1, 000 goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. BSB BSB: Now 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.
3 ULT And the name of the man{ was} Nabal, and the name of his wife{ was} Abigail. Now the woman{ was} good of insight and beautiful of appearance. But the man{ was} harsh and evil of deeds, and he{ was} a Calebite. BSB BSB: His 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.
4 ULT And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. BSB BSB: While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.
5 ULT And David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men,“Go up{ to} Carmel, and you shall go to Nabal, and you shall ask him in my name regarding peace. BSB BSB: So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name
6 ULT And you shall say thus,‘To life! And peace{ to} you and peace{ to} your house and peace{ to} all that{ is} to you. BSB BSB: and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and to your house and to all that belongs to you.
7 ULT And now, I have heard that shearers{ are} to you. Now the shepherds who{ are} to you have been with us. We have not hurt them, and anything to them has not been missing all of the days of their being in Carmel. BSB BSB: Now 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.
8 ULT Ask your young men, and they will declare to you. So let the young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a good day. Please give whatever your hand finds to your servants and to your son, to David.’” BSB BSB: Ask 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 spare to your servants and to your son David.’”
9 ULT So the young men of David came, and they spoke to Nabal according to all of these words in the name of David. Then they ceased. BSB BSB: When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.
10 ULT And Nabal answered the servants of David and said,“Who{ is} David? And who{ is} the son of Jesse? Today servants are many{ who} are breaking themselves away, a man from the face of his master. BSB BSB: But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
11 ULT So shall I take my bread and my water and my slaughter that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give to men whom I do not know where from this they{ are}?” BSB BSB: Why 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?”
12 ULT And the young men of David turned to their way, and they returned and came and declared to him according to all of these words. BSB BSB: So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.
13 ULT And David said to his men,“Strap on, a man his sword.” And they strapped on, a man his sword. And David also strapped on his sword. And about 400 men went up behind David, and 200 stayed with the equipment. BSB BSB: And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men strapped on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
14 ULT But one young man from the young men declared to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying,“Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to bless our master, but he screamed at them. BSB BSB: Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.
15 ULT But the men{ were} very good to us. And we were not hurt, and we did not miss anything all of the days when we went about with them in our being in the field. BSB BSB: Yet 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.
16 ULT They were a wall for us both night and day, all of the days of our being with them, tending the sheep. BSB BSB: They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.
17 ULT And now, know and see what you shall do, for harm has completed against our master and against all of his house. And he{ is} a son of wickedness from speaking to him.” BSB BSB: Now 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!”
Abigail Intercedes for Nabal 18 ULT And Abigail hurried and took 200{ loaves of} bread and two skins of wine and five prepared sheep and five seahs of roasted grain and 100 bunches of raisins and 200 cakes of figs. And she put them on donkeys. BSB BSB: Then 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
19 ULT And she said to her young men,“Pass over to my face. Behold me, I will come after you.” But to her husband Nabal she did not declare. BSB BSB: and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20 ULT And she was riding on the donkey and going down in the cover of the mountain, and behold, David and his men were coming down to meet her. And she encountered them. BSB BSB: As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.
21 ULT Now David had said,“Surely for a lie I kept all that{ was} to this{ one} in the wilderness, and not anything was missed from all that{ was} to him. For he has returned evil to me for good. BSB BSB: Now David had just said, “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.
22 ULT Thus may God do to the enemies of David, and thus may he add, if I let remain until the morning any pissing against the wall who{ are} to him!” BSB BSB: May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one male belonging to Nabal survive until morning.”
23 ULT And Abigail saw David, and she hurried and got down from upon the donkey. And she fell to the face of David on her face and prostrated herself{ on} the ground. BSB BSB: When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.
24 ULT And she fell at his feet and said,“On me myself, my master,{ be} the iniquity. Now please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. BSB BSB: She 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.
25 ULT May my master please not set his heart to this man of wickedness, upon Nabal, for as{ is} his name, so{ is} he. Nabal{ is} his name, and foolishness{ is} with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my master, whom you sent. BSB BSB: My 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.
26 ULT And now, my master, the life of Yahweh, and the life of your soul,{ it is} Yahweh who has restrained you from entering into bloodshed and your hand saving for yourself. And now, may your enemies and the ones seeking harm against my master be like Nabal. BSB BSB: Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.
27 ULT And now, may this blessing that your maidservant has caused to come to my master be given to the young men going about at the feet of my master. BSB BSB: Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.
28 ULT Please lift off the transgression of your maidservant. For making, Yahweh will make for my master an established house, because my master is fighting the battles of Yahweh. And evil will not be found in you from your days. BSB BSB: Please 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.
29 ULT If a man arises to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my master will be bound in the bundle of the living by Yahweh your God. But the life of your enemies, he will sling it away in the midst of the pocket of a sling. BSB BSB: And 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.
30 ULT And it will happen, when Yahweh has done for my master according to all of the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you for a ruler over Israel, BSB BSB: When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,
31 ULT then this will not be an obstacle for you or a stumbling block of heart for my master, or for the pouring out of blood without cause, or for my master saving himself. And Yahweh will do good for my master, and you will remember your maidservant.” BSB BSB: then 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 servant.”
32 ULT And David said to Abigail,“May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be blessed, who sent you this day to meet me. BSB BSB: Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!
33 ULT And blessed be your discernment, and blessed be{ you} who have kept me this day from entering into bloodshed and my hand saving for myself! BSB BSB: Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.
34 ULT For indeed, the life of Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has retrained me from harming you, that lest you had hurried and come to meet me, that if one pissing against the wall had been left to Nabal until the light of the morning!” BSB BSB: Otherwise, 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.”
35 ULT And David took from her hand what she had brought to him. And he said to her,“Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice, and I have lifted up your face.” BSB BSB: Then 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.”
36 ULT And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, a feast{ was} to him in his house like the feast of a king. And the heart of Nabal was good within him, and he{ was} drunk to abundance. So she did not declare to him a thing small or great until the light of the morning. BSB BSB: When 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.
37 ULT And it happened in the morning, when the wine had gone out from Nabal, that his wife declared to him these things. And his heart died in the midst of him, and he became a stone. BSB BSB: In 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.
38 ULT And it was about ten days, and Yahweh struck Nabal and he died. BSB BSB: About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.
David Marries Abigail 39 ULT And David heard that Nabal had died, and he said,“Blessed be Yahweh, who has conducted the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has withheld his servant from evil. And Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his head.” And David sent and spoke with Abigail, to take her for himself for a wife. BSB BSB: On 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 her to become his wife.
40 ULT And the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying,“David has sent us to you to take you to him for a wife.” BSB BSB: When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”
41 ULT And she arose and bowed down, nostrils to the ground, and she said,“Behold your female servant, for a maidservant for washing the feet of the servants of my master.” BSB BSB: She arose, bowed facedown, and said, “Here is your servant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”
42 ULT And Abigail hurried and arose and rode on a donkey, and her five young women were going at her feet. And she went after the messengers of David, and she became to him a wife. BSB BSB: So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.
43 ULT And David took Ahinoam from Jezreel, and the two of them also became wives for him. BSB BSB: David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.
44 ULT But Saul had given his daughter Michal, the wife of David, to Palti the son of Laish, who was{ from} Gallim. BSB BSB: But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.