Help QuickNav Adv. Options
NLT

NLT

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
Copy Options
Cite Print
The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 25 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
The Death of Samuel
Nabal Angers David

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:1 - Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral. They buried him at his house in Ramah. Then David moved down to the wilderness of Maon.[fn]

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:2 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:3 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:4 - When David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep,

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:5 - he sent ten of his young men to Carmel with this message for Nabal:

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:6 - “Peace and prosperity to you, your family, and everything you own!

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:7 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:8 - 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.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:9 - David’s young men gave this message to Nabal in David’s name, and they waited for a reply.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:10 - “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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:11 - 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?”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:12 - So David’s young men returned and told him what Nabal had said.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:13 - “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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:14 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:15 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:16 - In fact, day and night they were like a wall of protection to us and the sheep.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:17 - 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!”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:18 - 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[fn] of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes. She packed them on donkeys

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:19 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:20 - As she was riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming toward her.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:21 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:22 - May God strike me and kill me[fn] if even one man of his household is still alive tomorrow morning!”
Abigail Intercedes for Nabal

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:23

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:23 - When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:24

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:24 - She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:25

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:25 - 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.[fn] But I never even saw the young men you sent.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:26

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:26 - “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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:27

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:27 - And here is a present that I, your servant, have brought to you and your young men.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:28

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:28 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:29

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:29 - “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!

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:30 - When the LORD has done all he promised and has made you leader of Israel,

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:31

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:31 - 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!”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:32

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:32 - David replied to Abigail, “Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today!

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:33

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:33 - Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:34

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:34 - 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.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:35

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:35 - Then David accepted her present and told her, “Return home in peace. I have heard what you said. We will not kill your husband.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:36

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:36 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:37

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:37 - In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him what had happened. As a result he had a stroke,[fn] and he lay paralyzed on his bed like a stone.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:38

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:38 - About ten days later, the LORD struck him, and he died.
David Marries Abigail

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:39

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:39 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:40

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:40 - When the messengers arrived at Carmel, they told Abigail, “David has sent us to take you back to marry him.”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:41

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:41 - 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!”

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:42

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:42 - 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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:43

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:43 - David also married Ahinoam from Jezreel, making both of them his wives.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 25:44

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 25:44 - Saul, meanwhile, had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to a man from Gallim named Palti son of Laish.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
As in Greek version (see also 25:2); Hebrew reads Paran.
Hebrew 5 seahs [30 liters].
As in Greek version; Hebrew reads May God strike and kill the enemies of David.
The name Nabal means “fool.”
Hebrew his heart failed him.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
NLT
  [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
NLT
Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

1 Samuel Chapter 25 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras