I Samuel 25

¹Forsothe Samuel was deed; and al Israel was gaderid to gidere, and thei biweiliden hym greetly, and birieden hym in his hows in Ramatha. And Dauid roos, and yede doun in to deseert of Faran.

²Forsothe a `man was in Maon, and his possessioun was in Carmele, and thilke man was ful greet, and thre thousynde scheep and a thousynde geet `weren to hym; and it bifelde that his flocke was clippid in Carmele.

³Forsothe the name of that man was Nabal, and the name of his wijf was Abigail; and thilke womman was moost prudent and fair; forsothe hir hosebond was hard and ful wickid and malicious; sotheli he was of the kyn of Caleph.

⁴Therfor whanne Dauid hadde herde in deseert, that Nabal clippide his floc,

⁵he sente ten yonge men, and seide to hem, Stie ye in to Carmele, and ye schulen come to Nabal, and ye schulen grete hym of my name pesibli;

⁶and ye schulen seie thus, Pees be to my britheren and to thee, and pees be to thin hows, and pees be to alle thingis, `what euer thingis thou hast.

⁷Y herde that thi scheepherdis, that weren with vs in deseert, clippiden thi flockis; we weren neuere diseseful to hem, nether ony tyme ony thing of the floc failide to hem, in al time in which thei weren with vs in Carmele;

⁸axe thi children, and thei schulen schewe to thee. Now therfor thi children fynde grace in thin iyen; for in a good dai we camen to thee; what euer thing thin hond fyndith, yyue to thi seruauntis, and to thi sone Dauid.

⁹And whanne the children of Dauid hadden come, thei spaken to Nabal alle these wordis in the name of Dauid, and helden pees.

¹⁰Forsoth Nabal answeride to the children of Dauid, and seide, Who is Dauith? and who is the sone of Isai? To dai seruauntis encreesiden that fleen her lords.

¹¹Therfor schal Y take my looues and my watris, and the fleischis of beestis, whiche Y haue slayn to my schereris, and schal Y yyue to men, whiche Y knowe not of whennus thei ben?

¹²Therfor the children of Dauid yeden ayen bi her weie; and thei turneden ayen, and camen, and telden to hym alle wordis whiche Nabal hadde seid.

¹³Thanne Dauid seide to hise children, Ech man be gird with his swerd. And alle men weren gird with her swerdis, and Dauid also was gird with his swerd; and as foure hundrid men sueden Dauid, forsothe two hundrid leften at the fardels.

¹⁴Forsothe oon of hise children telde to Abigail, wijf of Nabal, and seide, Lo! Dauid sente messangeris fro deseert, that thei schulden blesse oure lord, and he turnede hem awey;

¹⁵these men weren good ynow, and not diseseful to vs, and no thing perischide `in ony tyme in al the tyme in which we lyueden with hem in deseert;

¹⁶thei weren to vs for a wal, bothe in niyt and in dai, in alle daies in whiche we lesewiden flockis at hem.

¹⁷Wherfor biholde thou, and thenke, what thou schalt do; for malice is fillid ayens thin hosebonde, and ayens `thin hows; and he is the sone of Belial, so that no man may speke to him.

¹⁸Therfor Abigail hastide, and took two hundrid looues, and two vessels of wyn, and fyue whetheris sodun, and seuene buyschelis and an half of flour, and an hundrid bundles of dried grape, and two hundrid gobetis of dried figus; and puttide on assis,

¹⁹and seide to hir children, Go ye bifor me; lo! Y schal sue you `aftir the bak. Forsothe sche schewide not to hir hosebonde Nabal.

²⁰Therfor whanne sche hadde stied on the asse, and cam doun `at the roote of the hil, and Dauid and hise men camen doun in to the comyng `of hir; whiche also sche mette.

²¹And Dauid seide, Verili in veyn Y haue kept alle thingis that weren of this Nabal in the deseert, and no thing perischide of alle thingis that perteyneden to hym, and he hath yolde to me yuel for good.

²²The Lord do these thingis, and adde these thingis to the enemyes of Dauid, if Y schal leeue of alle thingis that perteynen to him til the morewe a pisser to the wal.

²³Sotheli whanne Abigail siy Dauid, sche hastide, and yede doun of the asse; and sche fel doun bifor Dauid on hir face, and worschipide on the erthe.

²⁴And sche felde doun to hise feet, and seide, My lord the kyng, this wickydnesse be in me; Y biseche, speke thin handmayden in thin eeris, and here thou the wordis of thi seruauntesse;

²⁵Y preie, my lord the kyng, sette not his herte on this wickid man Nabal, for bi his name he is a fool, and foli is with hym; but, my lord, Y thin handmayde siy not thi children, whiche thou sentist.

²⁶Now therfor, my lord, the Lord lyueth, and thi soule lyueth, which Lord forbeed thee, lest thou schuldist come in to blood, and he sauede thi soule to thee; and now thin enemyes, and thei that seken yuel to my lord, be maad as Nabal.

²⁷Wherfor resseyue thou this blessyng, which thin handmaide brouyte to thee, my lord, and yyue thou to the children that suen thee, my lord.

²⁸Do thou awey the wickidnesse of thi seruauntesse; for the Lord makynge schal make a feithful hows to thee, my lord, for thou, my lord, fiytist the batels of the Lord; therfor malice be not foundun in thee in alle dais of thi lijf.

²⁹For if a man risith ony tyme, and pursueth thee, and sekith thi lijf, the lijf of my lord schal be kept as in a bundel of lyuynge trees, at thi Lord God; forsothe the soule of thin enemyes schal be hurlid round aboute as in feersnesse, and sercle of a slynge.

³⁰Therfor whanne the Lord hath do to thee, my lord, alle these goode thingis, whiche he spak of thee, and hath ordeyned thee duyk on Israel,

³¹this schal not be in to siyyng and in to doute of herte to thee, my lord, that thou hast sched out giltles blood, ether that thou hast vengid thee. And whanne the Lord hath do wel to thee, my lord, thou schalt haue mynde on thin handmaide, and thou schalt do wel to hir.

³²And Dauid seide to Abigail, Blessid be the Lord God of Israel, that sente thee to dai in to my comyng, and blessid be thi speche;

³³and blessid be thou, that hast forbede me, lest Y yede to blood, and vengide me with myn hond;

³⁴ellis the Lord God of Israel lyueth, which forbeed me, `lest Y dide yuel to thee, if thou haddist not soone come in to `metyng to me, a pissere to the wal schulde not haue left to Nabal til to the morewe liyt.

³⁵Therfor Dauid resseyuede of hir hond alle thingis whiche sche hadde brouyt to hym; and he seide to hir, Go thou in pees in to thin hows; lo! Y herde thi vois, and Y onouride thi face.

³⁶Forsothe Abigail cam to Nabal; and, lo! a feeste was to him in his hows, as the feeste of a kyng; and the herte of Nabal was iocounde, for he was `drunkun greetli; and sche schewide not to hym a word litil ether greet til the morewe.

³⁷Forsothe in the morewtid, whanne Nabal hadde defied the wiyn, his wijf schewide to hym alle these wordis; and his herte was almest deed with ynne, and he was maad as a stoon.

³⁸And whanne ten daies hadden passid, the Lord smoot Nabal, and he was deed.

³⁹Which thing whanne Dauid hadde herd, Nabal deed, he seide, Blessid be the Lord God, that vengide the cause of my schenschip of the hond of Nabal, and kepte his seruaunt fro yuel, and the Lord yeldide the malice of Nabal in to the heed of hym. Therfor Dauid sente, and spak to Abigail, that he wolde take hir wijf to hym.

⁴⁰And the children of Dauid camen to Abigail in to Carmele, and spaken to hir, and seiden, Dauid sente vs to thee, that he take thee in to wijf to hym.

⁴¹And sche roos, and worschipide lowe to erthe, and seide, Lo! thi seruauntesse be in to an handmayde, that sche waische the feet of the seruauntis of my lord.

⁴²And Abigail hastide, and roos, and stiede on an asse; and fyue damesels, sueris of hir feet, yeden with hir, and sche suede the messangeris of Dauid, and was maad wijf to hym.

⁴³But also Dauid took Achynoem of Jezrael, and euer eithir was wijf to hym;

⁴⁴forsothe Saul yaf Mycol his douytir, wijf of Dauid, to Phalti, the sone of Lais, that was of Gallym.

I Samuel 25

¹And 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.

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 did shear his sheep.

⁵And 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:

⁶And 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.

⁷And 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.

⁸Ask 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.

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

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹Shall 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?

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

¹³And 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.

¹⁴But 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.

¹⁵But 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:

¹⁶They were a wall unto 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 an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

¹⁹And she said unto 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 against her; and she met them.

²¹Now 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.

²²So 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.

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 thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine 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 thine 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 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.

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

²⁸I 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.

²⁹Yet 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.

³⁰And 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;

³¹That 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.

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

³³And 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.

³⁴For 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.

³⁵So 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.

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

³⁷But 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.

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 him to wife.

⁴⁰And 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.

⁴¹And 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.

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, which was of Gallim.