Parallel Bible results for "1 samuel 25"

1 Samuel 25

New Living Translation NLT

1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral. They buried him at his house in Ramah. Nabal Angers David Then David moved down to the wilderness of Maon.

2 There was a wealthy man from Maon who owned property near the town of Carmel. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and it was sheep-shearing time.

3 This man’s name was Nabal, and his wife, Abigail, was a sensible and beautiful woman. But Nabal, a descendant of Caleb, was crude and mean in all his dealings.

4 When David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep,

5 he sent ten of his young men to Carmel with this message for Nabal:

6 “Peace and prosperity to you, your family, and everything you own!

7 I am told that it is sheep-shearing time. While your shepherds stayed among us near Carmel, we never harmed them, and nothing was ever stolen from them.

8 Ask your own men, and they will tell you this is true. So would you be kind to us, since we have come at a time of celebration? Please share any provisions you might have on hand with us and with your friend David.”

9 David’s young men gave this message to Nabal in David’s name, and they waited for a reply.

10 “Who is this fellow David?” Nabal sneered to the young men. “Who does this son of Jesse think he is? There are lots of servants these days who run away from their masters.

11 Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I’ve slaughtered for my shearers and give it to a band of outlaws who come from who knows where?”

12 So David’s young men returned and told him what Nabal had said.

13 “Get your swords!” was David’s reply as he strapped on his own. Then 400 men started off with David, and 200 remained behind to guard their equipment.

14 Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s servants went to Abigail and told her, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed insults at them.

15 These men have been very good to us, and we never suffered any harm from them. Nothing was stolen from us the whole time they were with us.

16 In fact, day and night they were like a wall of protection to us and the sheep.

17 You need to know this and figure out what to do, for there is going to be trouble for our master and his whole family. He’s so ill-tempered that no one can even talk to him!”

18 Abigail wasted no time. She quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, two wineskins full of wine, five sheep that had been slaughtered, nearly a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes. She packed them on donkeys

19 and said to her servants, “Go on ahead. I will follow you shortly.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal what she was doing.

20 As she was riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming toward her.

21 David had just been saying, “A lot of good it did to help this fellow. We protected his flocks in the wilderness, and nothing he owned was lost or stolen. But he has repaid me evil for good.

22 May God strike me and kill me if even one man of his household is still alive tomorrow morning!”

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him.

24 She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say.

25 I know Nabal is a wicked and ill-tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the young men you sent.

26 “Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands, let all your enemies and those who try to harm you be as cursed as Nabal is.

27 And here is a present that I, your servant, have brought to you and your young men.

28 Please forgive me if I have offended you in any way. The LORD will surely reward you with a lasting dynasty, for you are fighting the LORD ’s battles. And you have not done wrong throughout your entire life.

29 “Even when you are chased by those who seek to kill you, your life is safe in the care of the LORD your God, secure in his treasure pouch! But the lives of your enemies will disappear like stones shot from a sling!

30 When the LORD has done all he promised and has made you leader of Israel,

31 don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance. And when the LORD has done these great things for you, please remember me, your servant!”

32 David replied to Abigail, “Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today!

33 Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands.

34 For I swear by the LORD, the God of Israel, who has kept me from hurting you, that if you had not hurried out to meet me, not one of Nabal’s men would still be alive tomorrow morning.”

35 Then David accepted her present and told her, “Return home in peace. I have heard what you said. We will not kill your husband.”

36 When Abigail arrived home, she found that Nabal was throwing a big party and was celebrating like a king. He was very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything about her meeting with David until dawn the next day.

37 In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him what had happened. As a result he had a stroke, and he lay paralyzed on his bed like a stone.

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

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise the LORD, who has avenged the insult I received from Nabal and has kept me from doing it myself. Nabal has received the punishment for his sin.” Then David sent messengers to Abigail to ask her to become his wife.

40 When the messengers arrived at Carmel, they told Abigail, “David has sent us to take you back to marry him.”

41 She bowed low to the ground and responded, “I, your servant, would be happy to marry David. I would even be willing to become a slave, washing the feet of his servants!”

42 Quickly getting ready, she took along five of her servant girls as attendants, mounted her donkey, and went with David’s messengers. And so she became his wife.

43 David also married Ahinoam from Jezreel, making both of them his wives.

44 Saul, meanwhile, had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to a man from Gallim named Palti son of Laish.

Common English Bible CEB

1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. David then left and went down to the Maon wilderness.

2 There was a man in Maon who did business in Carmel. He was a very important man and owned three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. At that time, he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

3 The man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and attractive woman, but her husband was a hard man who did evil things. He was a Calebite.

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

5 So David sent ten servants, telling them, "Go up to Carmel. When you get to Nabal, greet him for me.

6 Say this to him: ‘Peace to you, your household, and all that is yours!

7 I've heard that you are now shearing sheep. As you know, your shepherds were with us in the wilderness. We didn't mistreat them. Moreover, the whole time they were at Carmel, nothing of theirs went missing.

8 Ask your servants; they will tell you the same. So please receive these young men favorably, because we've come on a special day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.'"

9 When David's young men arrived, they said all this to Nabal on David's behalf. Then they waited.

10 But Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is David? Who is Jesse's son? There are all sorts of slaves running away from their masters these days.

11 Why should I take my bread, my water, and the meat I've butchered for my shearers and give it to people who came here from who knows where?"

12 So David's young servants turned around and went back the way they came. When they arrived, they reported every word of this to David.

13 Then David said to his soldiers, "All of you, strap on your swords!" So each of them strapped on their swords, and David did the same. Nearly four hundred men went up with David. Two hundred men remained back with the supplies.

14 One of Nabal's servants told his wife Abigail, "David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he just yelled at them.

15 But the men were very good to us and didn't mistreat us. Nothing of ours went missing the whole time we were out with them in the fields.

16 In fact, the whole time we were with them, watching our sheep, they were a protective wall around us both night and day.

17 Think about that and see what you can do, because trouble is coming for our master and his whole household. But he's such a despicable person no one can speak to him."

18 Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep ready for cooking, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes. She loaded all this on donkeys

19 and told her servants, "Go on ahead of me. I'll be right behind you." But she didn't tell her husband Nabal.

20 As she was riding her donkey, going down a trail on the hillside, David and his soldiers appeared, descending toward her, and she met up with them.

21 David had just been saying, "What a waste of time—guarding all this man's stuff in the wilderness so that nothing of his went missing! He has repaid me evil instead of good!

22 May God deal harshly with me, David, and worse still if I leave alive even one single male belonging to him come morning!"

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and fell facedown before him, bowing low to the ground.

24 She fell at his feet and said, "Put the blame on me, my master! But please let me, your servant, speak to you directly. Please listen to what your servant has to say.

25 Please, my master, pay no attention to this despicable man Nabal. He's exactly what his name says he is! His name means fool, and he is foolish! But I myself, your servant, didn't see the young men that you, my master, sent.

26 I pledge, my master, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, that the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and taking vengeance into your own hands! But now let your enemies and those who seek to harm my master be exactly like Nabal!

27 Here is a gift, which your servant has brought to my master. Please let it be given to the young men who follow you, my master.

28 Please forgive any offense by your servant. The LORD will definitely make an enduring dynasty for my master because my master fights the LORD's battles, and nothing evil will be found in you throughout your lifetime.

29 If someone chases after you and tries to kill you, my master, then your life will be bound up securely in the bundle of life by the LORD your God, but he will fling away your enemies' lives as from the pouch of a sling.

30 When the LORD has done for my master all the good things he has promised you, and has installed you as Israel's leader,

31 don't let this be a blot or burden on my master's conscience, that you shed blood needlessly or that my master took vengeance into his own hands. When the LORD has done good things for my master, please remember your servant."

32 David said to Abigail, "Bless the LORD God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!

33 And bless you and your good judgment for preventing me from shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands today!

34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD God of Israel lives—the one who kept me from hurting you—if you hadn't come quickly and met up with me, there wouldn't be one single male left come morning."

35 Then David accepted everything she had brought for him. "Return home in peace," he told her. "Be assured that I've heard your request and have agreed to it."

36 When Abigail got back home to Nabal, he was throwing a party fit for a king in his house. Nabal was in a great mood and very drunk, so Abigail didn't tell him anything until daybreak.

37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him everything. Nabal's heart failed inside him, and he became like a stone.

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

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Bless the LORD, who has rendered a verdict regarding Nabal's insult to me and who kept me, his servant, from doing something evil! The LORD has brought Nabal's evil down on his own head." Then David sent word to Abigail, saying that he would take her as his wife.

40 When David's servants reached Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, "David has sent us to you so you can become his wife."

41 She bowed low to the ground and said, "I am your servant, ready to serve and wash the feet of my master's helpers."

42 Then Abigail got up quickly and rode on her donkey, with five of her young women going with her. She followed David's messengers and became his wife.

43 David also married Ahinoam from Jezreel, so both of them were his wives.

44 But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti, Laish's son, from Gallim.