| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Wilderness of Paran. | 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. |
| 2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. | 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. |
| 3The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb. | 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. |
| 4When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, | 4While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. |
| 5David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. | 5So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name |
| 6And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! | 6and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and your house and to all that belongs to you. |
| 7Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. | 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. |
| 8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ” | 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.’ ” |
| 9So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited. | 9When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited. |
| 10Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. | 10But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters. |
| 11Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” | 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?” |
| 12So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. | 12So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words. |
| 13Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies. | 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. |
| 14Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. | 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. |
| 15But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. | 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. |
| 16They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. | 16They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. |
| 17Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him.” | 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!” |
| 18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. | 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 |
| 19And she said to her servants, “Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. | 19and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. |
| 20So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. | 20As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them. |
| 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. | 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. |
| 22May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.” | 22May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.” |
| 23Now when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. | 23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him. |
| 24So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. | 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. |
| 25Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel 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. | 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. |
| 26Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, since the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. | 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. |
| 27And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. | 27Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you. |
| 28Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. | 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. |
| 29Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. | 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. |
| 30And it shall come to pass, when the LORD has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, | 30When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel, |
| 31that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.” | 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.” |
| 32Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! | 32Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day! |
| 33And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. | 33Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. |
| 34For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” | 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.” |
| 35So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.” | 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.” |
| 36Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there 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; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. | 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. |
| 37So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. | 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. |
| 38Then it happened, after about ten days, that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. | 38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead. |
| 39So when 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 His servant from evil! For the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. | 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. |
| 40When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.” | 40When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.” |
| 41Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” | 41She arose, then bowed facedown and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” |
| 42So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. | 42So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife. |
| 43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives. | 43David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives. |
| 44But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim. | 44But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim. |
|
