I Samuel 25

vayyamot shemu'el vayyiqqavetsu khol-yisra'el vayyispedu-lo vayyiqberuhu beveto baramah vayyaqom david vayyered el-midbar paran

Samuel died, and all Israel gathered and made lament for him; and they buried him in Ramah, his home. David went down to the wilderness of Paran.

ve'ish bema'on uma'asehu vakkarmel veha'ish gadol me'od velo tson sheloshet-alafim ve'elef izzim vayehi bigzoz et-tsono bakkarmel

There was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel. The man was very wealthy; he owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At the time, he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

veshem ha'ish naval veshem ishto avigayil veha'isha tovat-sekhel vifat to'ar veha'ish qasheh vera ma'alalim vehu (khlvv) [khalibbi]

The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and an evildoer.

vayyishma david bammidbar ki-gozez naval et-tsono

David was in the wilderness when he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

vayyishlakh david asarah ne'arim vayyomer david lanne'arim alu kharmelah uvatem el-naval ushe'eltem-lo vishmi leshalom

David dispatched ten young men, and David instructed the young men, “Go up to Carmel. When you come to Nabal, greet him in my name.

va'amartem koh lekhay ve'attah shalom uvetekha shalom vekhol asher-lekha shalom

Say as follows: ‘To life! Greetings to you and to your household and to all that is yours!

ve'attah shamati ki gozezim lakh attah haro'im asher-lekha hayu immanu lo hekhlamnum velo-nifqad lahem me'umah kol-yeme heyotam bakkarmel

I hear that you are now doing your shearing. As you know, your shepherds have been with us; we did not harm them, and nothing of theirs was missing all the time they were in Carmel.

she'al et-ne'arekha veyaggidu lakh veyimtse'u hanne'arim khen be'enekha ki-al-yom tov banu tenah-nna et asher timtsa yadekha la'avadekha ulevinkha ledavid

Ask your young men and they will tell you. So receive these young men graciously, for we have come on a festive occasion. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can.’”

vayyavo'u na'are david vayedabberu el-naval kekhol-haddevarim ha'elleh beshem david vayyanukhu

David’s young men went and delivered this message to Nabal in the name of David. When they stopped speaking,

vayya'an naval et-avde david vayyomer mi david umi ven-yishay hayyom rabbu avadim hammitparetsim ish mippene adonayw

Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many slaves nowadays who run away from their masters.

velaqakhti et-lakhmi ve'et-memay ve'et tivkhati asher tavakhti legozezay venatatti la'anashim asher lo yadati e mizzeh hemmah

Should I then take my bread and my water, and the meat that I slaughtered for my own shearers, and give them to men who come from I don’t know where?”

vayyahafkhu na'are-david ledarkam vayyashuvu vayyavo'u vayyaggidu lo kekhol haddevarim ha'elleh

Thereupon David’s young men retraced their steps; and when they got back, they told him all this.

vayyomer david la'anashayw khigru ish et-kharbo vayyakhgeru ish et-kharbo vayyakhgor gam-david et-kharbo vayya'alu akhare david ke'arba me'ot ish umatayim yashevu al-hakkelim

And David said to his men, “Gird on your swords.” Each girded on his sword; David too girded on his sword. About four hundred of them went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

vela'avigayil eshet naval higgid na'ar-ekhad mehanne'arim lemor hinneh shalakh david malakhim mehammidbar levarekh et-adonenu vayya'at bahem

One of [Nabal’s] young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, that David had sent messengers from the wilderness to greet their master, and that he had spurned them.

veha'anashim tovim lanu me'od velo hokhlamnu velo-faqadnu me'umah kol-yeme hithallakhnu ittam bihyotenu bassadeh

“But those involved had been very friendly to us; we were not harmed, nor did we miss anything all the time that we went about with them while we were in the open.

khomah hayu alenu gam-laylah gam-yomam kol-yeme heyotenu immam ro'im hatson

They were a wall about us both by night and by day all the time that we were with them tending the flocks.

ve'attah de'i ure'i mah-tta'asi ki-khaletah hara'ah el-adonenu ve'al kol-beto vehu ben-beliyya'al middabber elayw

So consider carefully what you should do, for harm threatens our master and all his household; he is such a nasty fellow that no one can speak to him.”

vattemaher (vvgyl) [avigayil] vattiqqakh matayim lekhem ushenayim nivle-yayin vekhamesh tson (shvvt) [asuyot] vekhamesh se'im qali ume'ah tsimmuqim umatayim develim vattasem al-hakhamorim

Abigail quickly got together two hundred loaves of bread, two jars of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of parched corn, one hundred cakes of raisin, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs. She loaded them on donkeys,

vattomer linareha ivru lefanay hinni akharekhem ba'ah ule'ishah naval lo higgidah

and she told her young men, “Go on ahead of me, and I’ll follow you”; but she did not tell her husband Nabal.

vehayah hi rokhevet al-hakhamor veyoredet beseter hahar vehinneh david va'anashayw yoredim liqratah vattifgosh otam

She was riding on the donkey and going down a trail on the hill, when David and his men appeared, coming down toward her; and she met them.—

vedavid amar akh lasheqer shamarti et-kol-asher lazeh bammidbar velo-nifqad mikkol-asher-lo me'umah vayyashev-li ra'ah takhat tovah

Now David had been saying, “It was all for nothing that I protected that fellow’s possessions in the wilderness, and that nothing he owned is missing. He has paid me back evil for good.

koh-ya'aseh elohim le'oyeve david vekhoh yosif im-ashir mikkol-asher-lo ad-habboqer mashtin beqir

May God do thus and more to the enemies of David if, by the light of morning, I leave a single male of his.”—

vattere avigayil et-david vattemaher vattered me'al hakhamor vattippol le'appe david al-paneha vattishtakhu arets

When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted from the donkey and threw herself face down before David, bowing to the ground.

vattippol al-raglayw vattomer bi-ani adoni he'avon utedabber-na amatekha be'oznekha ushema et divre amatekha

Prostrate at his feet, she pleaded, “Let the blame be mine, my lord, but let your handmaid speak to you; hear your maid’s plea.

al-na yasim adoni et-libbo el-ish habbeliyya'al hazzeh al-naval ki khishmo ken-hu naval shemo unevalah immo va'ani amatekha lo ra'iti et-na'are adoni asher shalakheta

Please, my lord, pay no attention to that wretched man—to Nabal. For he is just what his name says: His name means ‘boor’ and he is a boor. “Your handmaid did not see the young men whom my lord sent.

ve'attah adoni khay-Adonai vekhe-nafshekha asher mena'akha Adonai mibbo vedamim vehoshea yadekha lakh ve'attah yihyu khenaval oyevekha vehamevaqshim el-adoni ra'ah

I swear, my lord, as GOD lives and as you live—GOD who has kept you from seeking redress by blood with your own hands—let your enemies and all who would harm my lord fare like Nabal!

ve'attah habberakhah hazzot asher-hevi shifkhatekha ladoni venittenah lanne'arim hammithallekhim beragle adoni

Here is the present that your maidservant has brought to my lord; let it be given to the young men who are the followers of my lord.

sa na lefesha amatekha ki asoh-ya'aseh Adonai ladoni bayit ne'eman ki-milkhamot Adonai adoni nilkham vera'ah lo-timmatse vekha miyyamekha

Please pardon your maid’s boldness. For GOD will grant my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting GOD’s battles and no wrong is ever to be found in you.

vayyaqom adam lirdofkha ulevaqqesh et-nafshekha vehayetah nefesh adoni tserurah bitsror hakhayyim et Adonai elohekha ve'et nefesh oyevekha yeqalle'ennah betokh kaf haqqala

And if anyone sets out to pursue you and seek your life, the life of my lord will be bound up in the bundle of life in the care of GOD—who will fling away the lives of your enemies as from the hollow of a sling.

vehayah ki-ya'aseh Adonai ladoni kekhol asher-dibber et-hattovah alekha vetsivvekha lenagid al-yisra'el

And when GOD has accomplished for my lord all the good promised to you, and has appointed you ruler of Israel,

velo tihyeh zot lekha lefuqah ulemikhshol lev ladoni velishpokh-dam khinnam ulehoshia adoni lo vehetiv Adonai ladoni vezakharta et-amatekha

do not let this be a cause of stumbling and of faltering courage to my lord that you have shed blood needlessly and that my lord sought redress with his own hands. And when GOD has made my lord prosper, remember your maid.”

vayyomer david la'avigal barukh Adonai elohe yisra'el asher shelakhekh hayyom hazzeh liqrati

David said to Abigail, “Praised be GOD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!

uvarukh tamekh uverukhah at asher kelitini hayyom hazzeh mibbo vedamim vehoshea yadi li

And blessed be your prudence, and blessed be you yourself for restraining me from seeking redress in blood by my own hands.

ve'ulam khay-Adonai elohe yisra'el asher mena'ani mehara otakh ki lule mihart (vtvty) [vattavot] liqrati ki im-notar lenaval ad-or habboqer mashtin beqir

For as sure as GOD, the God of Israel, lives—who has kept me from harming you—had you not come quickly to meet me, not a single male of Nabal’s line would have been left by daybreak.”

vayyiqqakh david miyyadah et asher-hevi'ah lo velah amar ali leshalom levetekh re'i shamati veqolekh va'essa panayikh

David then accepted from her what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go up to your home safely. See, I have heeded your plea and respected your wish.”

vattavo avigayil el-naval vehinneh-lo mishteh beveto kemishteh hammelekh velev naval tov alayw vehu shikkor ad-me'od velo-higgidah lo davar qaton vegadol ad-or habboqer

When Abigail came home to Nabal, he was having a feast in his house, a feast fit for a king; Nabal was in a merry mood and very drunk, so she did not tell him anything at all until daybreak.

vayehi vabboqer betset hayyayin minnaval vattagged-lo ishto et-haddevarim ha'elleh vayyamot libbo beqirbo vehu hayah le'aven

The next morning, when Nabal had slept off the wine, his wife told him everything that had happened; and his courage died within him, and he became like a stone.

vayehi ka'aseret hayyamim vayyiggof Adonai et-naval vayyamot

About ten days later GOD struck Nabal and he died.

vayyishma david ki met naval vayyomer barukh Adonai asher rav et-riv kherpati miyyad naval ve'et-avdo khasakh mera'ah ve'et ra'at naval heshiv Adonai berosho vayyishlakh david vayedabber ba'avigayil leqakhtah lo le'isha

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praised be GOD who championed my cause against the insults of Nabal and held me back from wrongdoing; GOD has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” David sent messengers to propose marriage to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

vayyavo'u avde david el-avigayil hakkarmelah vayedabberu eleha lemor david shelakhanu elayikh leqakhtekh lo le'isha

When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel and told her that David had sent them to her to make her his wife,

vattaqom vattishtakhu appayim aretsah vattomer hinneh amatekha leshifkhah lirkhots ragle avde adoni

she immediately bowed low with her face to the ground and said, “Your handmaid is ready to be your maidservant, to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

vattemaher vattaqom avigayil vattirkav al-hakhamor vekhamesh na'aroteha haholekhot leraglah vattelekh akhare malakhe david vattehi-lo le'isha

Then Abigail rose quickly and mounted a donkey, and with five of her maids in attendance she followed David’s messengers; and she became his wife.

ve'et-akhino'am laqakh david miyyizre'el vattihyena gam-shetehen lo lenashim

Now David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel; so both of them became his wives.

vesha'ul natan et-mikhal bitto eshet david lefalti ven-layish asher miggallim

Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish from Gallim.