The Koine Bible

And Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and lamented him, and they buried him in his house in Armathaim. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Maon.

And there was a man in Maon, and his flocks in Carmel, and the man was very great, and to him were three thousand flocks and a thousand goats; and it happened in the shearing of his flock in Carmel

And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigaia, and his wife was good in understanding and very beautiful in appearance, and the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and the man was churlish.

And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal the Carmelite was shearing his flock.

And David sent ten young men and said to the young men, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name for peace.

And you shall say thus: For prosperity, and you too, being well, and your house, and all your things being well.

And now, behold, I have heard that your shepherds are shearing for you now, those who were with us in the wilderness, and we did not hinder them, and we did not command them anything, all the days of their being in Carmel.

Ask your servants, and they will tell you; and let the servants find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a good day. Please give whatever your hand may find to your son David.

And the young men came and spoke these words to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and he sprang up

And Nabal answered David’s servants and said, Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? Today there are many servants who are withdrawing each one from before his master.

and shall I take my bread and my wine and my sacrifices that I have sacrificed for my shearers, and shall I give them to men of whom I do not know where they are from?

And the young men of David turned back to their way and returned and came and reported to David according to these words.

And David said to his men, Gird each one his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, and the two hundred sat with the baggage.

And one of the young men reported to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he turned aside from them.

And the men were very good to us; they did not hinder us nor charge us all the days that we were with them and while we were in the field.

They were like a wall around us both by night and by day, all the days when we were with them, shepherding the flock.

And now know and see what you will do, because evil has been completed against our lord and against his house, and this man is a pestilent son, and it is not possible to speak to him.

And Abigail hastened and took two hundred loaves and two skin-bottles of wine and five prepared sheep and five measures of parched grain and one homer of raisins and two hundred cakes, and put them on the donkeys.

And she said to her young men, Go on before me, and behold, I am coming after you. But to her husband she did not tell.

And it happened, as she was riding on the donkey and descending in the concealment of the mountain, behold, David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she met them

And David said, Surely in vain I have kept all that belongs to him in the wilderness, and we did not command to take anything from all that belongs to him, and he has repaid me evil for good.

So may God do to David, and so may he add, if I leave remaining by morning any male of all that belong to Nabal.

And Abigail saw David, and she hurried and dismounted from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to him to the ground

at his feet and she said, On me, my lord, be the wrongdoing; let your servant, please, speak in your ears, and listen to the word of your servant

Please let my lord not set his heart on this pestilent man, because as his name is, so he is; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. And I, your servant, did not see your young men whom you sent.

And now, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, in that the Lord has restrained you from coming into innocent blood and from saving yourself with your own hand, now may your enemies and those seeking evil for my lord become like Nabal.

And now take this blessing which your servant has brought to my lord, and you shall give it to the young men who stand before my lord.

Please forgive the wrongdoing of your servant, for the Lord will surely make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the wars of the Lord, and evil will never be found in you.

And a man will arise pursuing you and seeking your life, and the life of my lord will be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God, and the lives of your enemies you will sling out in the middle of the sling.

And it shall be that the Lord will do for my lord all the good things that he has spoken concerning you, and the Lord will appoint you as leader over Israel

and this shall not be to you an offense and a stumbling block to my lord, to shed innocent blood for nothing and to save my lord’s hand for himself; and the Lord will do good to my lord, and you will remember your maidservant to do good to her

And David said to Abigail, Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me in this way.

And blessed is your conduct, and blessed are you, who have prevented me today from coming into bloodguilt and from saving my hand for myself.

Nevertheless, as the Lord lives, the God of Israel, who restrained me today from doing evil to you, that if you had not hastened and come to meet me, then I said, there would not be left to Nabal by the light of morning one who urinates against a wall.

And David took from her hand all that she brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to your house; see, I have heard your voice, and I have chosen your person.

And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, there was a banquet in his house, like the banquet of a king; and the heart of Nabal was good upon him, and he was very drunk, and she did not tell him a word, small or great, until the light of the morning.

And it came to pass in the morning, when Nabal had sobered up from the wine, that his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

And it happened about ten days later, and the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

And David heard, and said, Blessed is the Lord, who has judged the judgment of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept his servant from the hand of evils, and the wickedness of Nabal the Lord has turned back upon his head; and David sent and spoke concerning Abigail to take her for himself as a wife

And the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you to take you for himself as wife

And she arose and bowed to the ground on her face and said, Behold, your servant is for a maidservant to wash the feet of your servants.

And Abigail rose and mounted the donkey, and five maidens followed her, and she went after the young men of David, and she became to him as wife.

And Ahinoam David took from Jezreel, and both of them were for him wives.

And Saul gave Melchol his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who was from Romma.