The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
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.
1
Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David went to the desert of Paran.
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.
2
Now, there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very rich man. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. And he was shearing 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.
3
This man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was sensible and beautiful, but he was harsh and mean. He was a descendant of Caleb.
4 David, there in the desert, heard that Naval was shearing his sheep.
4
While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing 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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So David sent ten young men and told them, "Go to Carmel, visit Nabal, and greet him for me.
6 Say, 'Long life and shalom to you, shalom to your household, and shalom to everything that is yours!
6
Say to him, 'May you live [long]! May you, your home, and all you have prosper!
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 hear that your sheepshearers are with you. Your shepherds have been with us, [and] we have not mistreated them. Nothing of theirs has been missing as long as they've been 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.'"
8
Ask your young men, and let them tell you. Be kind to my young men, since we have come on a special occasion. Please give us and your son David anything you can [spare].'"
9 On arrival, David's men said all these things to Naval in David's name. When they had finished,
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When David's young men came to Nabal, they repeated all of this to him for David, and then they waited.
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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"Who is David?" Nabal answered David's servants. "Who is Jesse's son? So many servants nowadays are leaving 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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Should I take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to men coming from who knows where?"
12 So David's men turned around, went back and came and told him everything Naval had said.
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David's young men returned and told him all this.
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.
13
"Each of you put on your swords!" David told his men. And everyone, including David, put on his sword. About four hundred men went with David, while two hundred men stayed with the supplies.
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,
14
One of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, "David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, who yelled at them.
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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Those men were very good to us. They didn't mistreat us, and we found that nothing was missing wherever we went with them when we were 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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They were a wall protecting us day and night as long as we were watching the sheep near them.
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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Now, consider what you should do because our master and his whole household are doomed. And he's such a worthless man that it's useless to talk 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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So Abigail quickly took 200 loaves of bread, 2 full wineskins, 5 butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys.
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.
19
"Go on ahead," she told her young men, "and I'll follow you." But she didn't tell her husband Nabal about it.
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.
20
She was riding on her donkey down a hidden mountain path when she met David and his men coming toward her.
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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David had thought, "I guarded this man's stuff in the desert for nothing! Not one of his possessions was missing. Yet, he has paid me back with evil when I was good to him.
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 punish me if I leave even one of his men alive in the morning."
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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When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey. She immediately bowed down in front of David with her face touching the ground.
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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After she bowed at his feet, she said, "Sir, let me be held responsible for this wrong. Please let me speak with you. Please listen to my words.
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.
25
You shouldn't take this worthless person Nabal seriously. He is like his name. His name is Nabal [Godless Fool], and he's foolish. But I didn't see the young men you 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.
26
"The LORD has kept you from spilling innocent blood and from getting a victory by your own efforts. Now, sir, I solemnly swear, as the LORD and you live, may your enemies and those who are trying to harm you end up 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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Here is a gift I am bringing to you. May it be given to the young men who are in your service.
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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Please forgive my offense. The LORD will certainly give you, sir, a lasting dynasty, because you are fighting the LORD's battles. May evil never be found in you as long as you live.
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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Even though someone pursued you and sought your life, your life is wrapped in the bundle of life which comes from the LORD your God. But he will dispose of the lives of your enemies like stones thrown from a sling.
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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When the LORD does all the good he promised and makes you ruler of 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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you shouldn't have a troubled conscience because you spilled blood for no good reason and claimed your own victory. When the LORD has given you success, remember me."
32 David said to Avigayil, "Blessed be ADONAI the God of Isra'el, who sent you today to meet me;
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David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me.
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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May your good judgment be blessed. Also, may you be blessed for keeping me from slaughtering people today and from getting a victory by my own efforts.
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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But I solemnly swear--as the LORD God of Israel, who has kept me from harming you, lives--if you hadn't come to meet me quickly, Nabal certainly wouldn't have had one of his men left at dawn."
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 accepted what she brought him and told her, "Go home in peace. I've listened to what you've said and granted your request."
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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When Abigail came to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his home. It was like a king's banquet. He was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn't tell him anything until dawn.
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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But in the morning, when the effects of the wine had worn off, his wife told him what had happened. Nabal's heart failed, and he could not move.
38 Some ten days later ADONAI struck Naval, and he died.
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About ten days later the LORD made him even more sick, and Nabal died.
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.
39
When David heard Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD, who defended me against the insults of Nabal and kept me from doing wrong. The LORD has turned Nabal's own wickedness back on him." Then David sent men [on his behalf] to propose marriage to Abigail.
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."
40
When David's servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they told her, "David has sent us to you so that we can take you to him to be 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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She bowed down with her face touching the ground. "I am ready to serve," she said. "I am ready to wash the feet of my master's servants."
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 quickly got up and rode on a donkey with five of her female servants following her. So she went with David's messengers and became his wife.
43 David also took Achino'am of Yizre'el; both of them became his wives.
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David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. Both she and Abigail 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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Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti, Laish's son, who was from Gallim.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.