1Forsooth Samuel was dead; and all Israel was gathered together, and they bewailed him greatly, and buried him in his house in Ramah. And David rose up, and went down into the desert of Paran. (And then Samuel died; and all Israel was gathered together, and they greatly bewailed him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David rose up, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.)

2And in Maon there was a man, and his possession was in Carmel; and that man was full great, and there were to him three thousand sheep, and a thousand of goats; and it befelled that his flock was shorn in Carmel. (And in Maon there was a man, and his possession was in Carmel; and that man was very rich, and there were to him three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and it befell that his flock was clipped in Carmel.)

3And the name of that man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail; and that woman was most prudent and fair (or and that woman was very intelligent and beautiful); but her husband was hard and full wicked and malicious; and he was of the kin of Caleb.

4Therefore when David had heard in desert, that Nabal clipped his flock, (And when David had heard in the wilderness, that Nabal clipped his flock,)

5he sent ten young men, and said to them, Go ye up into Carmel, and ye shall come to Nabal, and ye shall greet him of my name peaceably (or and ye shall give him a friendly greeting in my name);

6and ye shall say thus (or and so ye shall say), Peace be to my brethren and to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be to all things, whatever thou hast.

7I have heard that thy shepherds, that were with us in desert, have shorn thy flocks; we were never dis-easeful to them, neither any time anything of the flock failed to them, in all the time in which they were with us in Carmel; (I have heard that thy shepherds, who were with us in the wilderness, have clipped thy flocks; we never threatened them, nor at any time did anything of theirs go missing, in all the time when they were with us in Carmel;)

8ask thy young men, and they shall show to thee. Now therefore thy young men find grace in thine eyes; for in a good day we come to thee; whatever thing thine hand findeth, or (it) pleaseth to thee, give it to thy servants, and to thy son David. (ask thy young men, and they shall tell thee. And so now let my young men find favour in thine eyes, for we come to thee on a good day; and whatever thing that thy hand findeth, or it pleaseth thee, give it to thy servants, and to thy son David.)

9And when the young men of David had come, they spake to Nabal all these words in the name of David, and held [their] peace (or and then they were silent).

10Forsooth Nabal answered to the young men of David, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? Today servants [have] increased that flee their lords (or Today too many servants have fled from their lords).

11Therefore shall I take my loaves, and my waters, and the flesh of (my) beasts, which I have slain to my shearers (or which I have killed for my shearers), and shall I give (it) to men, that I know not of whence they be?

12Therefore the young men of David went again by their way; and they turned again, and came, and told to him all (the) words which Nabal had said.

13Then David said to his young men, (Let) Each man be gird with his sword. And all (his) men were girded with their swords, and David also was girded with his sword; and as four hundred men followed David, for two hundred (were) left at the fardels, (or and about four hundred men followed David, for two hundred were left behind with the bundles, or the supplies).

14And one of the young men told to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, and said, Lo! David sent messengers from desert, that they should bless our lord, and he turned them away, (or Behold! David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our lord, but he turned them away);

15these men were good enough, and not dis-easeful to us, and nothing of ours perished in all the time in which we were with them in desert, (or in the wilderness);

16they were to us for a wall, both in night and day, in all the days in which we pastured flocks with them. (they were like a wall for us, both night and day, all the days in which we pastured the flocks with them.)

17Wherefore behold thou, and think, what thou shalt do; for malice is full-filled against thine husband, and against thine house, (or for malice is now filled full against thy husband, and against all thy family); and he is the son of Belial, so that no man may speak (sense) to him.

18Therefore Abigail hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five wethers sodden, and seven bushels and an half of flour, (or and five roasted sheep, and seven and a half bushels of flour), and an hundred bundles of dried grapes, or raisins, and two hundred pieces of dried figs; and she put all this upon asses,

19and said to her servants, Go ye before me; lo! I shall follow you behind your back. And she showed not this to her husband Nabal (or But she did not say anything about this to her husband Nabal).

20Therefore when she had gone upon an ass, and came down to the foot of the hill, David and his men came down into her coming; the which she met (or and she met them).

21And (earlier) David (had) said, Verily in vain I have kept all these things that were of this Nabal in the desert, and nothing perished of all things that pertained to him, and (yet) he hath yielded to me evil for good. (And earlier David had said, Truly in vain have I kept watch over all those things that were Nabal’s in the wilderness, and though nothing perished of all the things that pertained to him, yet he hath yielded to me evil for good.)

22The Lord do these things, and add he these things to the enemies of David, if I shall leave (anything)undestroyed of all things that pertain to him till tomorrow, (yea, even) a pisser to a wall. (May the Lord do these things, and add he other things, to David’s enemies, if I leave anythingunwasted until tomorrow out of all the things that pertain to him, yea, even a pisser on the wall.)

23And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and went down off the ass; and she fell down before David on her face, and worshipped him on the earth (or bowing low to the ground before him).

24And she felled down to his feet, and said, My lord the king, this wickedness be in me; I beseech thee, speak thine handmaid in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy servantess; (And she fell down at his feet, and said, My lord the king, let this wickedness be upon me; I beseech thee, let thy servantess speak to thee, and listen thou to the words of thy servantess;)

25I pray (thee), my lord the king, set not his heart on this wicked man Nabal, for by his name he is a fool, and folly is with him; but, my lord, I thine handmaid saw not thy young men, which thou sentest, (or but my lord, I thy servantess, did not see thy young men, whom thou sentest).

26Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, the which Lord hath forbidden thee, that thou shouldest come into blood, and the Lord saved thy life to thee; and now thine enemies, and they that seek evil to thee my lord, be they made as Nabal. (And so now, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, the which Lord hath forbidden thee, that thou shouldest come to shed blood, and so to avenge thyself with thy own hand; yea, now let thy enemies, and they who seek evil for thee my lord, be they made like Nabal.)

27Wherefore receive thou this blessing, (or this gift), which thine handmaid [hath] brought to thee, my lord, and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.

28(And) Do thou away the wickedness of thy servantess; for the Lord making shall make a faithful house to thee, my lord, (or for the Lord shall make a faithful family for thee, my lord), for thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord; therefore malice be not found in thee in all the days of thy life.

29For if a man riseth any time, and pursueth thee, and seeketh thy life, the life of my lord shall be kept (safe) as in a bundle of living trees, at thy Lord God (or with the Lord thy God); but the soul of thine enemies shall be hurled round about as in [the] fierceness, and [the] circle of a sling.

30Therefore when the Lord hath done to thee, my lord, all these good things, which he hath spoken of thee, and hath ordained thee duke upon Israel (or and hath ordained thee ruler upon Israel),

31this shall not be into sighing, that is, into mourning of soul, and into remorse of conscience, and into doubt of heart to thee, my lord, that thou hast shed out guiltless blood, either that thou hast (a)venged thyself. And when the Lord hath done well to thee, my lord, thou shalt have mind on thine handmaid (or thou shalt remember thy servantess), and thou shalt do well to her.

32And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that sent thee today into my coming (or who sent thee today to meet me),

33and blessed be thy speech; and blessed be thou, that hast forbade me, lest I went today to (shed) blood, and had venged me with mine hand (or and had avenged myself with my own hands);

34else the Lord God of Israel liveth, which forbade me, lest I did evil to thee, if thou haddest not soon come into meeting to me, (yea, even) a pisser to the wall should not have (been) left to Nabal till to the morrow light. (else as the Lord God of Israel liveth, who forbade me, lest I did evil to thee, if thou haddest not swiftly come to meet me, yea, even a pisser on the wall would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light.)

35Therefore David received (out) of her hand all (the) things which she had brought to him; and he said to her, Go thou in peace into thine house; lo! I have heard thy voice, and I honoured thy face (or behold! I have heard thy voice, and I grant thy request).

36Forsooth Abigail came to Nabal; and lo! a feast was to him in his house, as the feast of a king; and the heart of Nabal was merry, certainly he was full drunken; and she showed not to him a word, little or great, till the morrow. (And Abigail came back to Nabal; and behold! he was giving a feast in his house, a feast fit for a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry, for he was very drunk; and so she did not tell him anything, little or great, until the morning.)

37But in the morrowtide, when Nabal had voided the wine, his wife showed to him all these words; and his heart was almost dead within, and he was made as a stone. (But in the morning, when Nabal had voided the wine, his wife told him everything; and his heart was almost dead within, and he was made like a stone.)

38And when ten days had passed, the Lord smote Nabal, and he was dead (or and he died).

39The which thing when David had heard, Nabal to be dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord God, that hath venged the cause of my shame of the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath yielded the malice of Nabal into the head of him. Therefore David sent, and spake to Abigail, that he would take her (as a) wife to him. (Which thing when David had heard, that is, that Nabal had died, he said, Blessed be the Lord God, who hath avenged the cause of my shame at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil; yea, the Lord hath yielded the malice of Nabal onto his own head. Then David sent word to Abigail that he would take her for his wife.)

40And the servants of David came to Abigail into Carmel, and spake to her, and said, David sent us to thee, that he take thee into wife to him. (And so David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, and spoke to her, and said, David sent us to tell thee, that he would take thee as his wife.)

41And she rose up, and worshipped low to the earth (or and bowed low to the ground), and said, Lo! (let) thy servantess be into an handmaid, that she wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

42And Abigail hasted, and rose (up), and ascended on an ass (or and mounted her donkey); and five damsels, (the) followers of her feet, went with her, and she followed the messengers of David, and (so) was made [a] wife to him.

43But also David took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and ever either was wife to him (or and they both became his wives);

44and Saul gave Michal his daughter, [the] wife of David, to Phalti, the son of Laish, that was of Gallim.