1 SamuelJudaism / Hebrew BibleAccepted ScriptureBiblical Hebrew / AramaicShare1 Samuel 25Webster - EnglishMoreVersion - 9 availableWorld English BibleKing James VersionAmerican Standard VersionDarby BibleYoung's Literal TranslationWebster BibleGeneva BibleDouay-Rheims ChallonerReina-Valera 1909WEBKJVASVDarbyYLTWebsterGenevaDouayRV1909LanguageEnglishEspañol‹1 Samuel 11 Samuel 21 Samuel 31 Samuel 41 Samuel 51 Samuel 61 Samuel 71 Samuel 81 Samuel 91 Samuel 101 Samuel 111 Samuel 121 Samuel 131 Samuel 141 Samuel 151 Samuel 161 Samuel 171 Samuel 181 Samuel 191 Samuel 201 Samuel 211 Samuel 221 Samuel 231 Samuel 241 Samuel 251 Samuel 261 Samuel 271 Samuel 281 Samuel 291 Samuel 301 Samuel 31›1 Samuel 25ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1And Samuel died; and all the Israelites assembled, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2And [there] was a man in Maon, whose possessions [were] in Carmel; and the man [was] very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3Now the name of the man [was] Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and [she was] a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man [was] churlish and evil in his doings; and he [was] of the house of Caleb. 4And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5And 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: 6And thus shall ye say to him that liveth [in prosperity], Peace [be] both to thee, and peace [be] to thy house, and peace [be] to all that thou hast. 7And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missing to them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor in thy eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatever cometh to thy hand, to thy servants, and to thy son David. 9And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal in the name of David, according to all these words, and ceased. 10And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who [is] David? and who [is] the son of Jesse? there are many servants in these days that break away every man from his master. 11Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] to men, whom I know not whence they [are]? 12So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all these sayings. 13And David said to his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the goods. 14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed at them. 15But the men [were] very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: 16They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do: for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot speak to him. 18Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid [them] on asses. 19And she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. 20And it was [so], [as] she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and behold, David and his men came down over against her; and she met them. 21(Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this [man] hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that [pertained] to him: and he hath requited me evil for good. 22So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that [pertain] to him by the morning light any male person.) 23And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. 24And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, [upon] me [let this] iniquity [be]: and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thy audience, and hear the words of thy handmaid. 25Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, [even] Nabal; for as his name [is], so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. 26Now therefore, my lord, [as] the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withheld thee from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging thyself with thy own hand, now let thy enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 27And now this blessing which thy handmaid hath brought to my lord, let it even be given to the young men that follow my lord. 28I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thy handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee [all] thy days. 29Yet a man hath risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thy enemies, them shall he sling out, [as from] the middle of a sling. 30And it will come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; 31That this will be no grief to thee, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid. 32And David said to Abigail, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me: 33And blessed [be] thy advice, and blessed [be] thou, who hast kept me this day from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34For in very deed, [as] the LORD God of Israel liveth, who hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any male person. 35So David received from her hand [that] which she had brought him, and said to her, Return in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. 36And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart [was] merry within him, for he [was] very drunken: Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine had left Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone. 38And it came to pass about ten days [after], that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. 39And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed [be] the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to himself for a wife. 40And when the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to him for a wife. 41And she arose, and bowed herself on [her] face to the earth, and said, Behold, [let] thy handmaid [be] a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 42And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives. 44But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who [was] of Gallim. ‹Previous chapter1 Samuel 24Next chapter1 Samuel 26›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Versions1 Samuel 25 across 9 versionsShow all 9WEB - World English BibleKJV - King James VersionASV - American Standard VersionDarby - Darby BibleYLT - Young's Literal TranslationWebster - Webster BibleGeneva - Geneva BibleDouay - Douay-Rheims ChallonerRV1909 - Reina-Valera 1909Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public Domain