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1 Samuel 25 :: New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95)

Samuel's Death

1Sa 25:1

1Sa 25:1Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

1Sa 25:2

1Sa 25:2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very [fn]rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel

1Sa 25:3

1Sa 25:3(now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was [fn]intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),

1Sa 25:4

1Sa 25:4that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

1Sa 25:5

1Sa 25:5So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, [fn]visit Nabal and greet him in my name;

1Sa 25:6

1Sa 25:6and thus you shall say, ‘[fn]Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

1Sa 25:7

1Sa 25:7‘Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel.

1Sa 25:8

1Sa 25:8‘Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a [fn]festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

1Sa 25:9

1Sa 25:9When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name; then they waited.

1Sa 25:10

1Sa 25:10But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master.

1Sa 25:11

1Sa 25:11“Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men [fn]whose origin I do not know?”

1Sa 25:12

1Sa 25:12So David’s young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words.

1Sa 25:13

1Sa 25:13David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.

1Sa 25:14

1Sa 25:14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to [fn]greet our master, and he scorned them.

1Sa 25:15

1Sa 25:15“Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything [fn]as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields.

1Sa 25:16

1Sa 25:16“They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep.

1Sa 25:17

1Sa 25:17“Now therefore, know and [fn]consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a [fn]worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

1Sa 25:18

1Sa 25:18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

1Sa 25:19

1Sa 25:19She said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

1Sa 25:20

1Sa 25:20It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them.

1Sa 25:21

1Sa 25:21Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.

1Sa 25:22

1Sa 25:22“May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much as one [fn]male of any who belong to him.”

1Sa 25:23

1Sa 25:23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground.

1Sa 25:24

1Sa 25:24She fell at his feet and said, “On me [fn]alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak [fn]to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.

1Sa 25:25

1Sa 25:25“Please do not let my lord [fn]pay attention to this [fn]worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. [fn]Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

1Sa 25:26

1Sa 25:26“Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from [fn]shedding blood, and from [fn]avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal.

1Sa 25:27

1Sa 25:27“Now let this [fn]gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who [fn]accompany my lord.

1Sa 25:28

1Sa 25:28“Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil will not be found in you all your days.

1Sa 25:29

1Sa 25:29“Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your [fn]life, then the [fn]life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; but the [fn]lives of your enemies He will sling out [fn]as from the hollow of a sling.

1Sa 25:30

1Sa 25:30“And when the LORD does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel,

1Sa 25:31

1Sa 25:31this will not [fn]cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having [fn]avenged himself. When the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

1Sa 25:32

1Sa 25:32Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,

1Sa 25:33

1Sa 25:33and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from [fn]bloodshed and from [fn]avenging myself by my own hand.

1Sa 25:34

1Sa 25:34“Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one [fn]male.”

1Sa 25:35

1Sa 25:35So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to [fn]you and [fn]granted your request.”

1Sa 25:36

1Sa 25:36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything [fn]at all until the morning light.

1Sa 25:37

1Sa 25:37But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone.

1Sa 25:38

1Sa 25:38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.

David Marries Abigail

1Sa 25:39

1Sa 25:39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent [fn]a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

1Sa 25:40

1Sa 25:40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.”

1Sa 25:41

1Sa 25:41She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

1Sa 25:42

1Sa 25:42Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who [fn]attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

1Sa 25:43

1Sa 25:43David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.

1Sa 25:44

1Sa 25:44Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
See the NASB95 Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NASB95 Footnotes
Literally: great
Literally: of good understanding
Literally: go into
Literally: To life
Literally: good
Literally: from where they are
Literally: bless
Literally: all the days
Literally: see
Literally: son of Belial
Literally: who urinates against the wall
Literally: even me
Literally: in your ears
Literally: set his heart to
Literally: man of Belial
I.e. Fool
Literally: coming in with blood
Literally: saving
Literally: blessing
Literally: walk at the feet of
Literally: soul
Literally: in the midst
Literally: become staggering to you or a stumbling of the heart
Literally: saved
Literally: coming in with blood
Literally: saving
Literally: who urinates against the wall
Literally: your voice
Literally: lifted up your face
Literally: small or large
Literally: and spoke
Literally: walked at her feet
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New American Standard Bible 1995
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by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
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For Permission To Quote visit http://www.lockman.org

For more information on this translation, see the NASB95 Preface.

1 Samuel Chapter 25 — Additional Translations:

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