The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Sh'mu'el died. All of Isra'el assembled to mourn him and bury him at his home in Ramah. Then David set out and went down to the Pa'ran Desert.
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And death came to Samuel; and all Israel came together, weeping for him, and put his body in its resting-place in his house at Ramah. Then David went down to the waste land of Maon.
2 Now there was a man in Ma'on who had property in Karmel. He was very rich, having three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Karmel.
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Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel.
3 The man's name was Naval, and his wife was named Avigayil. The woman was intelligent and attractive, but the man was surly and mean in his actions; he belonged to the clan of Kalev.
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Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb.
4 David, there in the desert, heard that Naval was shearing his sheep.
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And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.
5 David sent off ten young men with these orders: "Go up to Naval in Karmel, and bring him greetings from me.
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And David sent ten young men, and said to them, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and say kind words to him in my name;
6 Say, 'Long life and shalom to you, shalom to your household, and shalom to everything that is yours!
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And say this to my brother, May all be well for you: peace be to you and your house and all you have.
7 I've heard that you now have shearers. Your shepherds were with us [for a while], we did them no harm, and they found nothing missing all the time they were in Karmel.
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I have had word that you have wool-cutters: now the keepers of your sheep have been with us, and we have done them no evil, and taken nothing of theirs while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask your own men; they'll tell you. Therefore, receive my men favorably, since we have come on a festive day. Please give what you can to your servants and to your son David.'"
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If your young men are questioned they will say the same thing. So now, let my young men have grace in your eyes, for we are come at a good time; please give anything you may have by you to your servants and to your son David.
9 On arrival, David's men said all these things to Naval in David's name. When they had finished,
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And when David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David's name, and said nothing more.
10 Naval answered David's servants, "Who is David? Who is the son of Yishai? There are many servants nowadays running away from their masters.
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And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters.
11 Am I supposed to take my bread, my water and my meat that I slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men coming from who knows where?"
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Am I to take my bread and my wine and the meat I have got ready for my wool-cutters and give it to men coming from I have no idea where?
12 So David's men turned around, went back and came and told him everything Naval had said.
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So David's young men, turning away, went back and gave him an account of everything he had said.
13 David said to his men, "Buckle your swords on, all of you!" Each one buckled on his sword, David too; and there went up after David about four hundred men, while two hundred stayed with the equipment.
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And David said to his men, Put on your swords, every one of you. And every man put on his sword; and David did the same; and about four hundred men went up with David, and two hundred kept watch over their goods.
14 But one of Naval's men told Avigayil his wife, "David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, and he flew on them in a rage,
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But one of the young men said to Nabal's wife Abigail, David sent men from the waste land to say kind words to our master, and he gave them a rough answer.
15 even though the men had been very good to us - they didn't harm us, and we found nothing missing during the entire time we went with them, while we were out in the countryside.
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But these men have been very good to us; they did us no wrong and nothing of ours was touched while we were with them in the fields:
16 They served as a wall protecting us day and night all the time we were with them caring for the sheep.
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But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep.
17 So now decide what you are going to do, for clearly harm is on its way to our master and all his household, but he's so mean that no one can tell him anything."
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So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him.
18 Avigayil wasted no time in taking 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already prepared, six quarts of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 fig cakes, and having them loaded on donkeys.
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Then Abigail quickly took two hundred cakes of bread and two skins full of wine and five sheep ready for cooking and five measures of dry grain and a hundred parcels of dry grapes and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them on asses.
19 Then she said to her young men, "Go on ahead of me, and I'll come along after you." But she didn't tell her husband Naval.
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And she said to her young men, Go on in front of me and I will come after you. But she said nothing to her husband Nabal.
20 She was riding her donkey down past the hiding-place in the mountain, when David and his men descended toward her, and she met them.
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Now while she was going down under cover of the mountain on her ass, David and his men came down against her, and suddenly she came face to face with them.
21 David had said, "What a waste it has been guarding everything this fellow has in the desert, so that nothing of his was missing! He has repaid me bad for good!"
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Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good.
22 Then he swore, "May God do the same and more to David's enemies if I leave alive even one male of everything he owns."
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May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.
23 When Avigayil saw David, she hurried to dismount from her donkey, fell on her face in front of David and bowed down to the ground.
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And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him.
24 Having fallen at his feet, she said, "It's all my fault, my lord, all my fault! Please let your servant speak in your ears, and listen to what your servant says.
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And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant.
25 Please! My lord shouldn't pay any attention to this worthless fellow Naval, because he's just like his name -'Naval' means 'boor,' and his boorishness stays with him. But I, your servant, did not see my lord's men, whom you sent.
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Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent.
26 Therefore, my lord, as ADONAI lives, and as you live, inasmuch as ADONAI has kept you from the guilt of shedding blood and from taking vengeance into your own hands - therefore, may your enemies and anyone seeking your harm be [as worthless] as Naval.
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So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal.
27 Meanwhile, let this present which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the men in my lord's service.
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And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.
28 And please forgive the offense your servant has caused; because ADONAI will certainly establish my lord's dynasty, for my lord fights ADONAI's battles, and nothing bad has been found in you all your life long.
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And may the sin of your servant have forgiveness: for the Lord will certainly make your family strong, because my lord is fighting in the Lord's war; and no evil will be seen in you all your days.
29 Even if someone comes along searching for you and seeking your life, your life will be bound in the bundle of life with ADONAI your God. But the lives of your enemies he will fling away as if from the pouch of a slingshot.
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And though a man has taken up arms against you, putting your life in danger, still the soul of my lord will be kept safe among the band of the living with the Lord your God; and the souls of those who are against you he will send violently away from him, like stones from a bag.
30 Then, when ADONAI has done all the good to my lord that he has said about you and made you ruler over Isra'el,
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And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel;
31 what happens here will not have become an obstacle to you or a cause for remorse to my lord, neither that you shed blood without cause nor that my lord took vengeance into his own hands. Finally, when ADONAI has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant."
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Then you will have no cause for grief, and my lord's heart will not be troubled because you have taken life without cause and have yourself given punishment for your wrongs: and when the Lord has been good to you, then give a thought to your servant.
32 David said to Avigayil, "Blessed be ADONAI the God of Isra'el, who sent you today to meet me;
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And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today:
33 and blessed be your tactfulness, and blessed be yourself for having kept me today from the guilt of shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands.
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A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs.
34 For as ADONAI the God of Isra'el, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you hadn't rushed to meet me, not even one male would have been left to Naval by morning!"
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For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal's house so much as one male living.
35 So David received from her what she had brought him, then said to her, "Go up in peace to your home. I have listened to what you said and granted your request."
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Then David took from her hands her offering: and he said to her, Go back to your house in peace; see, I have given ear to your voice, and taken your offering with respect.
36 Avigayil came to Naval; there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. He was in high spirits, because he was very drunk. So she told him nothing whatever until the next morning.
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And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came.
37 In the morning, when he was sober and his wife told him what had happened, he had a stroke and became as motionless as a stone.
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And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal's wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone.
38 Some ten days later ADONAI struck Naval, and he died.
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And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him.
39 When David heard that Naval was dead, he said, "Blessed be ADONAI for having taken my side in the matter of Naval's insult and for having prevented his servant from doing anything bad. On the contrary, ADONAI has caused Naval's bad deeds to return on his own head."Then David sent a message that he wanted to make Avigayil his own wife.
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And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife.
40 When David's servants reached Avigayil in Karmel, they said to her, "David has sent us to you to bring you to him to be his wife."
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And when David's servants came to Carmel, to Abigail, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.
41 She got up, bowed with her face to the ground, and said, "Your servant is here to serve you, to wash the feet of my lord's servants."
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And she got up, and going down on her face to the earth, said, See, I am ready to be a servant-girl, washing the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 Avigayil then hurried, set out and rode off on a donkey, with five of her female servants following her; she went after David's messengers; and she became his wife.
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Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife.
43 David also took Achino'am of Yizre'el; both of them became his wives.
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And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives.
44 Meanwhile, Sha'ul had given Mikhal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Layish, who came from Gallim.
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Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.