Book 08 : NEVIIM - I SAMUEL - Chapter 025
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And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves
together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David
arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran
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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
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Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife
Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful form; but
the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb
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And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing
his sheep
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And David sent 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
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and thus ye shall say: All hail! and peace be both unto
thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be unto all that thou hast
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And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; thy shepherds
have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing
unto them, all the while they were in Carmel
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Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee; wherefore let
the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come on a good day; give, I pray
thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
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And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal
according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased
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And Nabal answered David's servants, and said: 'Who is
David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that
break away every man from his master
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shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh
that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men of whom I know not
whence they are?
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So David's young men turned on their way, and went back,
and came and told him according to all these words
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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 baggage
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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 flew upon them
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But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt,
neither missed we any thing, as long as we went with them, when we were in the
fields
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they were a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the
while we were with them keeping the sheep
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Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for
evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such
a base fellow, that one cannot speak to him.
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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 a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid
them on asses
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And she said unto her young men: 'Go on before me; behold,
I come after you.' But she told not her husband Nabal
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And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by
the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down towards
her; and she met them.-
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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 returned me evil for good
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G-d do so unto the enemies of David, and more also, if I
leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light so much as one male.'-
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And when Abigail saw David, she made haste, and alighted
from her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed down to the ground
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And she fell at his feet, and said: 'Upon me, my lord,
upon me be the iniquity; and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears,
and hear thou the words of thy handmaid
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Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this base fellow,
even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and churlishness is
with him; but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst
send
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Now therefore, my lord, as HaShem liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, seeing HaShem hath withholden thee from bloodguiltiness, and from
finding redress for thyself with thine own hand, now therefore let thine
enemies, and them that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal
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And now this present which thy servant hath brought unto
my lord, let it be given unto the young men that follow my lord
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Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid; for
HaShem will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the
battles of HaShem; and evil is not found in thee all thy days
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And though man be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy
soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with HaShem
thy G-d; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the
hollow of a sling
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And it shall come to pass, when HaShem shall have done to
my lord according to all the good that He hath spoken concerning thee, and shall
have appointed thee prince over Israel
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that this shall be no stumbling-block unto thee, nor
offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause,
or that my lord hath found redress for himself. And when HaShem shall have dealt
well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.
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And David said to Abigail: 'Blessed be HaShem, the G-d of
Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me
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and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that
hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from finding redress for myself
with mine own hand
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For in very deed, as HaShem, the G-d of Israel, liveth,
who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst made haste and come
to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so
much as one male.
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So David received of her hand that which she had brought
him; and he said unto her: 'Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened
to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
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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
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And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone
out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within
him, and he became as a stone
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And it came to pass about ten days after, that HaShem
smote Nabal, so that he died
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And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said:
'Blessed be HaShem, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of
Nabal, and hath kept back His servant from evil; and the evil-doing of Nabal
hath HaShem returned upon his own head.' And David sent and spoke concerning
Abigail, to take her to him to wife
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And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to
Carmel, they spoke unto her, saying: 'David hath sent us unto thee, to take thee
to him to wife.
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And she arose, and bowed down with her face to the earth,
and said: 'Behold, thy handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of
my lord.
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And Abigail hastened, and arose, and rode upon an ass,
with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers
of David, and became his wife
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David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both
of them his wives
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Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to
Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim
Book 08 : NEVIIM - I SAMUEL - Chapter 025
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