unto Saul. And Saul went home; and David and his men went up to the castle.
(1 Samuel)
Chapter 25
Samuel’s death. Nabal’s folly. Abigail’s caution. David’s courtship of her.

And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and mourned for him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down into the wilderness of
Paran.

And there was a man in Maon, and his substance in Carmel: and the man was of great substance, and had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats. And it came to pass, that he shewed his sheep in Carmel.

And his name was Nabal; and his wife’s name was Abigail, and she was a woman of good understanding, and fair of face: but the man was hard and wicked in his doings, and was one of Caleb.

And it came to pass, when David was in the wilderness, that he heard Nabal shearing his sheep,

And he sent forth ten young men, and said unto them: Go up to Carmel, and when ye come to Nabal, greet him kindly for my sake.

And say, Peace be unto thee, and to thy house, and to all that thou hast.

I have heard that thou hast shearers. Now thy shepherds, which thou hast, have been with us; we have not mocked them, neither have they lacked in number all the days that they have been at Carmel.

Ask thy young men therefore, and they shall tell thee: and let the young men find grace in thine eyes: for we are come to a good day. Give unto thy servants, and unto thy son David, that which thine hand findeth.

And when the young men of David were come, and had spoken all these words unto Nabal because of David, they ceased.

And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse?
Now there are many servants that tear themselves from their masters.

Shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I have slain for my shearers, and give them unto men whom I know not whence they are?

And the young men of David returned on their way: and when they were come again to him, they told him all these things.

And David said unto his men, Gird every man his sword upon him. And every man girded his sword upon him; and David girded his sword also upon him, and went up after him about four hundred men: but two hundred abode by the device.

And Abigail Nabal’s wife said unto one of the young men, Behold, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord: and he snorted at them.

And they have been very good unto us, and have not mocked us, neither have we lacked in number as long as we have walked with them in the field,

But have been our walls day and night, all the days that we have kept the sheep with them.

Take heed therefore, and see what thou doest: for surely there is a calamity upon our lord, and upon all his house; and he is an unruly man, to whom no man may speak.

And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two measures of wine, and five sheep boiled, and five measures of flour, and an hundred heads of raisins, and two hundred heads of figs, and loaded them upon asses.

And said unto her young men: Go before me; behold, I will come afterward. And she told not her husband Nabal.

And as she rode upon the ass, and went down in the darkness of the mountain, behold, David met her, and his men came down, and met her.

And David had said: For I have kept in vain all that this man hath in the wilderness, that nothing hath failed of all that he hath: and he hath paid me good with evil.

God do so, and more to the enemies of David, where I deliver unto this until light morrow one that pisseth against the wall out of all that he hath!

And when Abigail saw David, she came down quickly from off her ass, and fell on her face before David, and worshipped the earth.

And he fell down at his feet, and said, Alas, my lord, let this iniquity be mine; and let thy handmaid speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

Let not my lord set his heart against this Nabal the hopeless man: for he is a fool, as his name is called, and foolishness is with him. But I thy handmaid have not seen the young men of my
lord, whom thou hast sent.

But now, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, the LORD hath prevented thee from coming against the blood, and hath redeemed thy hand. Now therefore, as Nabal, so shall thine enemies be, and they that would do evil unto my lord.

Here is the blessing which thy handmaid hath brought unto my lord: give it unto the young men that walk under my lord.

Forgive the transgression of thine handmaid. For the LORD will make my lord an established house, because thou hast made war with the LORD: and let no evil be found in thee all the days of thy life.

And if a man rise up to persecute thee, and seek thy soul, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD thy God: but the soul of thine enemies shall be slung with the sling.

When the LORD shall do all the good unto my lord, which he hath spoken unto thee, and shall command thee to be a duke over Israel,

Then it shall not be a shock nor an offence unto the heart of my lord, that thou hast not shed blood without a cause, and saved thyself: then shall the LORD be well pleased with my lord, and thou shalt remember thy handmaid.

And David said unto Abigail: Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath sent thee this day to meet me.

And blessed be thy speech, and blessed be thou that thou hast saved me this day, that I have not come against blood, and have redeemed myself with mine own hand.

Verily, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, who hath prevented me from doing thee evil, if thou hadst not hasted to meet me, there would not have remained unto Nabal this bright morning one that pisseth against the wall.

So David took from her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace unto thine house: behold, I have hearkened unto thy voice, and have looked upon thy person.

And when Abigail came to Nabal, behold, he had prepared a feast in his house, as the feast of a king: and his heart was good with himself, and he was very drunken. And she told him nothing, neither small nor great, until the morning light.

And it came to pass, when it was morning, and the wine was come from Nabal, that his wife told him these things. And his heart was sore in his flesh, and he became as a stone.

And for ten days the LORD smote him, and he died.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, which smelled my reproach upon Nabal, and delivered his servant from evil: and the LORD hath recompensed the evil of Nabal upon his head. And David sent and spake unto Abigail, that he might take her to wife.

And when David’s servants came to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying: David sent us unto thee, that he might take thee to wife.

And she arose, and worshipped upon her face to the earth, saying, Behold, here is thy handmaid, to minister unto the servants of my lord, and to wash their feet.

And Abigail made haste, and arose, and rode upon an ass, and five damsels that were under her, and went after David’s messengers, and became his wife.

And David took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were both his wives.

And Saul gave Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Lai of Gallim.
(1 Samuel)
Chapter 26
David takes Saul’s spear and water cup.

And they of Ziph came to Saul to Gibeah, and said: Is not David hid in the hill of Hachilah before the wilderness?

And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and with him three thousand young men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

And he encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the wilderness by the way. And
David abode in the wilderness. And when he saw that Saul was come after him into the wilderness,

And he sent out spies, and learned that Saul was sure to come.

And David arose, and came to the place where Saul was encamped, and saw the place where Saul lay with Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host. For Saul lay in the chariot, and the host round about him.

And David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said: I will go down with thee.

So David and Abishai came to the people by night. And, behold, Saul lay sleeping in the chariot-house, and his spear was in the earth at his head. And Abner and the people lay about him.

And Abishai said unto David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore will I thrust him into the earth with the spear once, that he have