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told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said,
‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s
anointed one.’ 11 Look, my father, at what I have
in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe!
I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that
I am not trying to harm you and that I have not
sinned against you, even though you have been
hunting for me to kill me.
12 “May the Lord judge between us. Perhaps
the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you. 13 As
that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come
evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm
you. 14 Who is the king of Israel trying to catch
anyway? Should he spend his time chasing one
who is as worthless as a dead dog or a single
flea? 15 May the Lord therefore judge which of us
is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power!”
16 When David had finished speaking, Saul
called back, “Is that really you, my son David?”
Then he began to cry. 17 And he said to David,
“You are a better man than I am, for you have
repaid me good for evil. 18 Yes, you have been
amazingly kind to me today, for when the Lord
put me in a place where you could have killed
me, you didn’t do it. 19 Who else would let his
enemy get away when he had him in his power?
May the Lord reward you well for the kindness
you have shown me today. 20 And now I realize
that you are surely going to be king, and that the
kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule.
21 Now swear to me by the Lord that when that
happens you will not kill my family and destroy
my line of descendants!”
22 So David promised this to Saul with an
oath. Then Saul went home, but David and his
men went back to their stronghold.
The Death of Samuel
Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral. They buried him at
his house in Ramah.
25
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
25:1 As in Greek version (see also 25:2); Hebrew reads Paran.
25:18 Hebrew 5 seahs [36.5 liters]. 25:22 As in Greek version;
Hebrew reads May God strike and kill the enemies of David.
25:25 The name Nabal means “fool.”
1 SAM UEL 25
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!”
Abigail Intercedes for Nabal
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 illtempered 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.