Abigail

2A very rich man lived in Maon. His land and work were in Carmel. He owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was cutting the wool off his sheep in Carmel.

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.

NoteSheep grow thick wool. Once a year the owner cut it all off to sell. Shearing time was a happy time, with a big feast and lots of food.

3The man's name was Nabal. His wife's name was Abigail. She was smart, and she was beautiful. But Nabal was rude and mean in the way he treated people. His family came from Caleb.

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.

NoteCaleb was a brave man from long ago. Families were proud to say they came from him.

4David was out in the desert. He heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep.

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

5So David sent ten young men. He told them, "Go up to Carmel. Find Nabal. Say hello to him for me."

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:

NoteThere was no mail and no phones. To send a message, you sent people to say it out loud.

6"Say this to him: 'I hope you live a long life. Peace to you. Peace to your family and to everything you own.'"

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.

Note"Peace" was the ordinary way to say hello. It means, I hope you are safe and well.

7"'I hear that it is time to cut your sheep's wool. Your shepherds were out with us. We never hurt them. Nothing of theirs went missing the whole time they were in Carmel.'"

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.

NoteShepherds slept outside with the sheep. There were no fences. Robbers could take the animals. David's men had kept them safe.

8"'Ask your young men. They will tell you it is true. So please be kind to my men. We have come on a feast day. Please give us whatever food you can spare. Give it to your servants and to your son David.'"

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.

NoteCalling himself "your son" was David being polite. A younger man spoke that way to an older, richer man.

9David's young men came and said all these words to Nabal for David. Then they waited.

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

10Nabal answered them, "Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Lots of servants run away from their masters these days."

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.

NoteJesse was David's father. Using "son of Jesse" instead of David's name was rude here. Nabal is also calling David a servant who ran away from his master.

11"Why should I give away my bread and my water? Why give away the meat I cooked for my workers? I do not even know where these men come from."

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?

NoteThe land was dry, so water was precious. People counted it as carefully as food.

12So David's young men turned around. They went back and told David every word Nabal had said.

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

13David told his men, "Put on your swords!" Every man put on his sword. David put his on too. About four hundred men went up with David. Two hundred stayed behind with the supplies.

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.

NoteDavid had about six hundred men with him. They lived out in the desert because King Saul was hunting David.

14One of Nabal's workers went and told Abigail, Nabal's wife. "David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master. But he yelled at them."

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.

15"Those men were very good to us. They never hurt us. Nothing of ours went missing while we lived near them out in the fields."

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:

16"They were like a wall around us, day and night. They kept us safe the whole time we watched the sheep."

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

17"So think hard about what you should do. Trouble is coming for our master and everyone in his house. He is so mean that nobody can talk to him."

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.

NoteThe King James says Nabal is "a son of Belial." That was an old way to call someone a worthless, bad man.

18Abigail hurried. She took two hundred loaves of bread and two leather bags of wine. She took five sheep already cooked and five big baskets of roasted grain. She took a hundred bunches of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded it all onto donkeys.

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.

NoteWine was carried in bags made from animal skin, not glass bottles. The King James word "corn" means grain, like wheat or barley, not corn on the cob. This was a huge pile of food, enough to feed hundreds of men.

19She told her servants, "Go on ahead of me. I will come along behind you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

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

20She rode her donkey down a hidden path in the hills. Just then David and his men came down toward her. She met them there.

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.

21David had just been saying, "I guarded this man's things in the desert for nothing. Not one thing of his went missing. And he paid me back with meanness instead of kindness."

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.

22"May God punish me if I leave even one of Nabal's men alive by morning."

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.

NoteDavid is making a strong promise here, the kind people made using God's name. The King James uses a rough old phrase, "any that pisseth against the wall." It simply means every boy and man.

23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down off her donkey. She bowed low with her face to the ground.

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,

NoteGetting off her donkey and bowing with her face to the ground showed great respect. People did this in front of kings and leaders.

24She fell at his feet and said, "My lord, put the blame on me. Please let me speak to you. Please listen to my words."

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.

NoteThe King James word here is "handmaid." It means a woman servant. Abigail calls herself that to be polite.

25"Please pay no attention to that mean man Nabal. His name means 'Fool,' and he acts like one. I never saw the young men you sent."

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.

26"As surely as the LORD lives, and as surely as you live, the LORD has held you back. He has kept you from killing and from paying people back yourself. May your enemies end up like Nabal."

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.

NoteWhen you see LORD in capital letters, it stands for God's own special name. "As the LORD liveth" was a way of saying, I really mean what I say.

27"Now please take this gift I brought you. Let it be given to the young men who follow you."

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.

NoteThe King James calls her gift a "blessing." That was a normal word for a present.

28"Please forgive me for the trouble. The LORD will keep your family strong for a long time. You fight the LORD's battles. May nothing evil be found in you as long as you live."

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.

Note"House" here means family. A "sure house" means children and grandchildren who keep going for a long time.

29"A man is chasing you and wants to kill you. But the LORD your God will hold your life safe with him. He will throw your enemies away like a stone from a sling."

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.

NoteA sling was a leather strap for throwing stones very fast and hard. David used one when he fought Goliath. The "bundle of life" is a picture of God keeping David's life safe, like treasures tied up in a bag.

30"The LORD promised good things for you. He will do every one of them. He will make you the ruler over Israel."

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;

31"Then you will not feel sad or guilty inside. You will not have killed people for no reason. You will not have paid them back yourself. And when the LORD is good to you, please remember me."

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.

32David said to Abigail, "Thank the LORD, the God of Israel. He sent you to meet me today."

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

33"Bless your good thinking, and bless you. Today you kept me from killing. You kept me from paying Nabal back myself."

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.

34"As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, he stopped me from hurting you. If you had not hurried out to meet me, not one man of Nabal's would be alive by morning."

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.

35So David took the gift she had brought him. He said, "Go home in peace. See, I have listened to you. I will do what you asked."

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.

36Abigail went home to Nabal. He was having a big feast, like a king's feast. He felt happy, and he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until morning.

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.

37In the morning Nabal was not drunk anymore. His wife told him everything. His heart failed inside him. He went stiff and still, like a stone.

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.

Note"His heart died within him" is an old way of saying the shock left him weak and still.

38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.

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

39David heard that Nabal was dead. He said, "Thank the LORD. He stood up for me when Nabal insulted me. He kept me, his servant, from doing wrong. Nabal's own meanness came back on his own head." Then David sent a message to Abigail. He asked her to be his wife.

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.

NoteSaying the wickedness came back "upon his own head" was an old way of saying the bad he did came back on him.

40David's servants came to Abigail in Carmel. They said, "David sent us to you. He wants you to be his wife."

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.

41She stood up and bowed with her face to the ground. She said, "I am here to serve. I will even wash the feet of my lord's servants."

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.

NotePeople wore sandals on dusty roads, so feet got very dirty. Washing a guest's feet was the job of the lowest servant.

42Abigail hurried and got on a donkey. Five of her servant girls went with her. She followed David's messengers, and she became his wife.

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.

1David and his men got back to their town, Ziklag, on the third day. While they were gone, raiders called Amalekites had attacked the south. They attacked Ziklag and burned it down.

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

NoteThe Amalekites were a desert people who lived by raiding. They rode in fast, took what they wanted, and rode away. Ziklag was the town where David and his men lived. A Philistine king had given it to David to use.

2They took the women away, and everyone else, young and old. They did not kill anyone. They carried them off as they left.

And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

NoteTaken captive means taken away as prisoners. They would be forced to work for the people who took them.

3David and his men came to the town. It was burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters were gone.

So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

4David and the men with him cried out loud. They cried until they had no strength left to cry.

Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

NoteLong ago people cried out loud when something terrible happened. Nobody hid their tears. Crying together was the normal thing to do.

5David's two wives were taken too. They were Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail, who had been Nabal's wife.

And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

NoteIn those days a man could have more than one wife. David had two.

6David was very upset. The men were so sad about their children that they talked about throwing stones at him. But David found new strength in the LORD his God.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

NoteThrowing stones at a person was how angry crowds killed someone. The men were sad and angry enough to talk about doing it. LORD in big letters stands for God's own name.

1After this, David asked God a question. He said, "Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" God said, "Go up." David asked, "Which one?" God said, "Hebron."

And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.

NoteDavid asked God by going to a priest, one of God's special helpers. The priest had a way of bringing back God's answer, yes or no. Judah was one of the big family groups in Israel.

2So David went to Hebron. His two wives went too. They were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, who had been married to Nabal from Carmel.

So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite.

NoteLong ago, important men often had more than one wife. That was normal then.

3David also brought the men who were with him. Each man brought his family. They all made their homes in the towns near Hebron.

And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

4The men of Judah came to Hebron. There they poured oil on David's head to make him their king. Then they told David, "The men of Jabesh-gilead were the ones who buried Saul."

And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul.

NotePouring oil on a man's head was how people made him king. It was a sign that God had picked him. Saul was the king before David, and Saul had just died.