1 Samuel

Tells about Samuel, the last judge, and the beginning of Israel's monarchy with King Saul and young David.

Chapter 25

1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

*Samuel passed away, and all the people of Israel came together to mourn him and bury him in his home in Ramah. Then David got up and went to the desert of Paran.

2 And 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.

*A man from Maon had lots of stuff in Carmel. He was very rich and had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was busy shaving the wool off his sheep in Carmel.

3 Now 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.

*Now, the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. She was smart and had a lovely appearance. But Nabal was grumpy and did bad things. He came from the family of Caleb.

4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.

*David learned in the desert that Nabal had cut his sheep's wool.

5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:

*David sent ten young men with a message to Nabal. They were to go to Carmel and greet Nabal on David's behalf.

6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.

*Tell the person with wealth, "May peace be with you, your home, and everything you have."

7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

*I heard you have workers for your sheep: we didn't harm the shepherds who were with us before, and nothing was taken from them while they were at Carmel.

8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.

*Ask your young people, and they will show you. So, let the young people be pleasing to you. We are coming on a good day. Please give whatever comes into your hands to your servants and to your son David.

9 And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

*When David's young messengers arrived, they spoke to Nabal as David instructed, and then stopped talking.

10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.

*Nabal told David's helpers, "Who is David? What is the son of Jesse? Many servants these days leave their masters."

11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?

*Should I give my food, water, and meat from animals I slaughtered for others' celebrations to people I don't know where they come from?

12 So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.

*So David's young helpers left, returned, and shared everything they heard with him.

13 And David said unto 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 stuff.

*David told his men to put on their swords. They all put on their swords, including David himself. About 400 men followed David, while 200 stayed behind with the equipment.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.

*A young man said to Abigail, who is married to Nabal, "David sent messengers from the desert to greet him, but he was mean to them."

15 But the men were very good unto 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:

*The men treated us kindly, and we were never harmed or lost anything while with them in the fields.

16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

*They protected us from danger day and night while we stayed with them taking care of the sheep.

17 Now 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.

*So understand now and think about your choice, because harm is planned against our leader and everyone in his family. He's such a wicked person that it's hard to talk to him.

18 Then 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 an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

*Abigail quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, 2 bottles of wine, 5 dressed sheep, 5 containers of toasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 fig cakes, then put everything on donkeys.

19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

*She told her servants to go first while she followed, but she didn't inform her husband, Nabal.

20 And 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 against her; and she met them.

*As she rode on the donkey, she went down the hill's hiding spot, and there, David and his group were coming towards her. They all met each other.

21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

*Now David had said, I wasted my efforts trying to protect everything this person had in the wilderness, but nothing was missing from what belonged to him. And he paid me back with evil for the good I did.

22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

*So, God will do even more to David's enemies if I find anyone still with him by morning light who urinates against a wall.

23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

*When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell on her face in front of him, and bowed down to the ground.

24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

*He knelt down, saying, "Lord, please punish me for this wrong. Let me, your servant, speak to you, and listen to what your servant has to say."

25 Let 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 thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

*Please don't let my lord pay attention to this foolish man, Nabal. As his name suggests, he is indeed foolish. I, as a servant, didn't see your young messengers sent to us.

26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

*Now then, my lord, I swear that both you and the LORD are alive - since the LORD has stopped you from killing and taking revenge on your own. So, let those who want harm for my lord be like Nabal.

27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.

*And now, the gift my servant has brought to my master, let it also be given to the young men who follow my master.

28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine 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.

*Please forgive my mistake; the LORD will definitely build a strong family for you. You fight for the LORD and have never done anything wrong throughout your life.

29 Yet a man is 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 thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

*Someone is chasing you to catch you and take your life, but your soul will be safe with God. Meanwhile, God will throw away the souls of your enemies, just like how you throw something out of a slingshot.

30 And it shall 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;

*And when the LORD does everything my lord has promised about you, and makes you the leader of Israel.

31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.

*This means: To make sure you don't feel sad or hurt inside, my dear lord, I want you to know that you didn't spill blood for no reason, and I also want you to know that I didn't do anything wrong. Everything will be okay when the LORD helps us, then please remember your humble servant.

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

*And David told Abigail, "Praise the Lord God of Israel for sending you to find me today."

33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

*"Thank you for the guidance, and thank you again, for helping me avoid causing harm today, and not taking matters into my own hands."

34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

*"Indeed, as the Lord God of Israel is alive, who stopped me from harming you, if you hadn't rushed to meet me, none from Nabal's family would have been left by morning light to urinate against the wall."

35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

*So David took what she gave him from her hand and told her, "Go back to your home in peace. I listened to your words and accepted you."

36 And 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: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

*Abigail went to see Nabal, who was having a grand party, almost like a royal feast. Nabal was very happy and quite drunk. She didn't tell him anything, big or small, until daylight came.

37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

*But one day, after Nabal drank all the wine, his wife told him what happened. Then, his heart was very sad and he felt like a rock.

38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.

*About ten days later, the LORD struck down Nabal, causing his death.

39 And 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 him to wife.

*When David learned that Nabal had died, he thanked God for freeing him from Nabal's harm and protecting him from trouble. He believed that God made Nabal suffer for his bad actions. Then, David reached out to Abigail to talk about marrying her.

40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.

*When David's helpers reached Abigail at Carmel, they told her that David sent them to take her as his wife.

41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

*She stood up, bent over, and put her face close to the ground. She said, "Please let me serve as a helper to wash the feet of your workers for my master."

42 And 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.

*Abigail quickly got up and rode on a donkey with her five female friends following her. They chased after David's messengers and eventually became David's wife.

43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.

*David married Ahinoam from Jezreel, and she, along with others, became one of his wives.

44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.

*But Saul gave Michal, David's wife, to Phalti, a man from Gallim, as his wife instead.

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