New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David got up and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
1
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 There was a man in Maon, whose property was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
2
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 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean; he was a Calebite.
3
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 heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
4
And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.
5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.
5
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 Thus you shall salute him: "Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.
6
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 hear that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing, all the time they were in Carmel.
7
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 young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight; for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.' "
8
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 When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David; and then they waited.
9
And when David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David's name, and said nothing more.
10 But Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters.
10
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 Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?"
11
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 young men turned away, and came back and told him all this.
12
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, "Every man strap on his sword!" And every one of them strapped on his sword; David also strapped on his sword; and about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
13
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 the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, "David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he shouted insults at them.
14
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 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we never missed anything when we were in the fields, as long as we were with them;
15
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 were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
16
But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep.
17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do; for evil has been decided against our master and against all his house; he is so ill-natured that no one can speak to him."
17
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 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys
18
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 and said to her young men, "Go on ahead of me; I am coming after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
19
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 As she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.
20
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 Now David had said, "Surely it was in vain that I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; but he has returned me evil for good.
21
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 God do so to David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him."
22
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 Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, and fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground.
23
And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him.
24 She fell at his feet and said, "Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant.
24
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 My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.
25
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 "Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be like Nabal.
26
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 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.
27
And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.
28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.
28
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 If anyone should rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living under the care of the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.
29
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 When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel,
30
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 my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant."
31
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 Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!
32
And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today:
33 Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, who have kept me today from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own hand!
33
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 surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male."
34
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 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him; he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace; see, I have heeded your voice, and I have granted your petition."
35
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 Abigail came to Nabal; he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.
36
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 the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him; he became like a stone.
37
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 About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
38
And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the Lord who has judged the case of Nabal's insult to me, and has kept back his servant from evil; the Lord has returned the evildoing of Nabal upon his own head." Then David sent and wooed Abigail, to make her his wife.
39
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 came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, "David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife."
40
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 rose and bowed down, with her face to the ground, and said, "Your servant is a slave to wash the feet of the servants of my lord."
41
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 Abigail got up hurriedly and rode away on a donkey; her five maids attended her. She went after the messengers of David and became his wife.
42
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 married Ahinoam of Jezreel; both of them became his wives.
43
And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives.
44 Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
44
Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.