撒慕尔纪上 25

1And Samuel died, and all Israel was gathered together, and they mourned for him, and buried him in his house in Ramatha. And David rose and went down into the wilderness of Pharan.

2Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

3Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman, but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill natured: and he was of the house of Caleb.

4And when David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep,

5He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and salute him in my name with peace.

6And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou hast.

7I heard that thy shepherds that were with us in the desert were shearing: we never molested them, neither was there ought missing to them of the flock at any time, all the while they were with us in Carmel.

8Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we are come in a good day, whatsoever thy hand shall find give to thy servants, and to thy son David.

9And when David’s servants came, they spoke to Nabal all these words in David’s name: and then held their peace.

10But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who is David? and what is the son of Isai? servants are multiplied now a days who flee from their masters.

11Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the flesh of my cattle, which I have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I know not whence they are?

12So the servants of David went back their way, and returning came and told him all the words that he said.

13Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword: and there followed David about four hundred men: and two hundred remained with the baggage.

14But one of the servants told Abigail the wife of Nabal, saying: Behold David sent messengers out of the wilderness, to salute our master: and he rejected them.

15These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble: neither did we ever lose any thing all the time that we conversed with them in the desert.

16They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

17Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do: for evil is determined against thy husband, and against thy house, and he is a son of Belial, so that no man can speak to him.

18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon asses:

19And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold I will follow after you: but she told not her husband Nabal.

20And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming down to the foot of the mountain, David and his men came down over against her, and she met them.

21And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this man in the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.

22May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of David, if I leave of all that belong to him till the morning, any that pisseth against the wall.

23And when Abigail saw David she made haste and lighted off the ass, and fell before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground.

24And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be, my lord: let thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears: and hear the words of thy servant.

25Let not my lord the king, I pray, regard this naughty man Nabal: for according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him: but I thy handmaid did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest.

26Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to thee: and now let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord.

27Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.

28Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord: let not evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life.

29For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord thy God: but the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the violence and whirling of a sling.

30And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince over Israel,

31This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when the Lord shall have done well by my lord, thou shalt remember thy handmaid.

32And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech:

33And blessed be thou, who hast kept me today, from coming to blood, and revenging me with my own hand.

34Otherwise as the Lord liveth the God of Israel, who hath withholden me from doing thee any evil: if thou hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

35And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and said to her: Go in peace into thy house, behold I have heard thy voice, and have honoured thy face.

36And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast in his house, like the feast of a king, and Nabal’s heart was merry: for he was very drunk: and she told him nothing less or more until morning.

37But early in the morning when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

38And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

39And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.

40And David’s servants came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife.

41And she arose and bowed herself down with her face to the earth, and said: Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

42And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.

43Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they were both of them his wives.

44But Saul gave Michol his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti, the son of Lais, who was of Gallium.

1Mortuus est autem Samuel, et congregatus est universus Israël, et planxerunt eum, et sepelierunt eum in domo sua in Ramatha. Consurgensque David descendit in desertum Pharan.

2Erat autem vir quispiam in solitudine Maon, et possessio ejus in Carmelo, et homo ille magnus nimis: erantque ei oves tria millia, et mille capræ: et accidit ut tonderetur grex ejus in Carmelo.

3Nomen autem viri illius erat Nabal. Et nomen uxoris ejus Abigail: eratque mulier illa prudentissima, et speciosa: porro vir ejus durus, et pessimus, et malitiosus: erat autem de genere Caleb.

4Cum ergo audisset David in deserto quod tonderet Nabal gregem suum,

5misit decem juvenes, et dixit eis: Ascendite in Carmelum, et venietis ad Nabal, et salutabitis eum ex nomine meo pacifice.

6Et dicetis: Sit fratribus meis et tibi pax, et domui tuæ pax, et omnibus, quæcumque habes, sit pax.

7Audivi quod tonderent pastores tui, qui erant nobiscum in deserto: numquam eis molesti fuimus, nec aliquando defuit quidquam eis de grege, omni tempore quo fuerunt nobiscum in Carmelo.

8Interroga pueros tuos, et indicabunt tibi. Nunc ergo inveniant pueri tui gratiam in oculis tuis: in die enim bona venimus: quodcumque invenerit manus tua, da servis tuis, et filio tuo David.

9Cumque venissent pueri David, locuti sunt ad Nabal omnia verba hæc ex nomine David: et siluerunt.

10Respondens autem Nabal pueris David, ait: Quis est David? et quis est filius Isai? hodie increverunt servi qui fugiunt dominos suos.

11Tollam ergo panes meos, et aquas meas, et carnes pecorum quæ occidi tonsoribus meis, et dabo viris quos nescio unde sint?

12Regressi sunt itaque pueri David per viam suam, et reversi venerunt, et nuntiaverunt ei omnia verba quæ dixerat.

13Tunc ait David pueris suis: Accingatur unusquisque gladio suo. Et accincti sunt singuli gladiis suis, accinctusque est et David ense suo: et secuti sunt David quasi quadringenti viri: porro ducenti remanserunt ad sarcinas.

14Abigail autem uxori Nabal nuntiavit unus de pueris suis, dicens: Ecce David misit nuntios de deserto, ut benedicerent domino nostro: et aversatus est eos.

15Homines isti boni satis fuerant nobis, et non molesti: nec quidquam aliquando periit omni tempore quo fuimus conversati cum eis in deserto:

16pro muro erant nobis tam in nocte quam in die, omnibus diebus quibus pavimus apud eos greges.

17Quam ob rem considera, et recogita quid facias: quoniam completa est malitia adversum virum tuum, et adversum domum tuam, et ipse est filius Belial, ita ut nemo possit ei loqui.

18Festinavit igitur Abigail, et tulit ducentos panes, et duos utres vini, et quinque arietes coctos, et quinque sata polentæ, et centum ligaturas uvæ passæ, et ducentas massas caricarum, et posuit super asinos:

19dixitque pueris suis: Præcedite me: ecce ego post tergum sequar vos: viro autem suo Nabal non indicavit.

20Cum ergo ascendisset asinum, et descenderet ad radices montis, David et viri ejus descendebant in occursum ejus: quibus et illa occurrit.

21Et ait David: Vere frustra servavi omnia quæ hujus erant in deserto, et non periit quidquam de cunctis quæ ad eum pertinebant: et reddidit mihi malum pro bono.

22Hæc faciat Deus inimicis David, et hæc addat, si reliquero de omnibus quæ ad ipsum pertinent usque mane mingentem ad parietem.

23Cum autem vidisset Abigail David, festinavit, et descendit de asino, et procidit coram David super faciem suam, et adoravit super terram,

24et cecidit ad pedes ejus, et dixit: In me sit, domine mi, hæc iniquitas: loquatur, obsecro, ancilla tua in auribus tuis, et audi verba famulæ tuæ.

25Ne ponat, oro, dominus meus rex cor suum super virum istum iniquum Nabal: quoniam secundum nomen suum stultus est, et stultitia est cum eo: ego autem ancilla tua non vidi pueros tuos, domine mi, quos misisti.

26Nunc ergo, domine mi, vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, qui prohibuit te ne venires in sanguinem, et salvavit manum tuam tibi: et nunc fiant sicut Nabal inimici tui, et qui quærunt domino meo malum.

27Quapropter suscipe benedictionem hanc, quam attulit ancilla tua tibi domino meo, et da pueris qui sequuntur te dominum meum.

28Aufer iniquitatem famulæ tuæ: faciens enim faciet Dominus tibi domino meo domum fidelem, quia prælia Domini, domine mi, tu præliaris: malitia ergo non inveniatur in te omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ.

29Si enim surrexerit aliquando homo persequens te, et quærens animam tuam, erit anima domini mei custodita quasi in fasciculo viventium apud Dominum Deum tuum: porro inimicorum tuorum anima rotabitur, quasi in impetu et circulo fundæ.

30Cum ergo fecerit Dominus tibi domino meo omnia quæ locutus est bona de te, et constituerit te ducem super Israël,

31non erit tibi hoc in singultum, et in scrupulum cordis domino meo, quod effuderis sanguinem innoxium, aut ipse te ultus fueris: et cum benefecerit Dominus domino meo, recordaberis ancillæ tuæ.

32Et ait David ad Abigail: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israël, qui misit hodie te in occursum meum, et benedictum eloquium tuum,

33et benedicta tu, quæ prohibuisti me hodie ne irem ad sanguinem, et ulciscerer me manu mea.

34Alioquin vivit Dominus Deus Israël, qui prohibuit me ne malum facerem tibi: nisi cito venisses in occursum mihi, non remansisset Nabal usque ad lucem matutinam mingens ad parietem.

35Suscepit ergo David de manu ejus omnia quæ attulerat ei, dixitque ei: Vade pacifice in domum tuam: ecce audivi vocem tuam, et honoravi faciem tuam.

36Venit autem Abigail ad Nabal: et ecce erat ei convivium in domo ejus quasi convivium regis, et cor Nabal jucundum: erat enim ebrius nimis: et non indicavit ei verbum pusillum aut grande usque mane.

37Diluculo autem cum digessisset vinum Nabal, indicavit ei uxor sua verba hæc: et emortuum est cor ejus intrinsecus, et factus est quasi lapis.

38Cumque pertransissent decem dies, percussit Dominus Nabal, et mortuus est.

39Quod cum audisset David mortuum Nabal, ait: Benedictus Dominus, qui judicavit causam opprobrii mei de manu Nabal, et servum suum custodivit a malo, et malitiam Nabal reddidit Dominus in caput ejus. Misit ergo David, et locutus est ad Abigail, ut sumeret eam sibi in uxorem.

40Et venerunt pueri David ad Abigail in Carmelum, et locuti sunt ad eam, dicentes: David misit nos ad te, ut accipiat te sibi in uxorem.

41Quæ consurgens, adoravit prona in terram, et ait: Ecce famula tua sit in ancillam, ut lavet pedes servorum domini mei.

42Et festinavit, et surrexit Abigail, et ascendit super asinum, et quinque puellæ ierunt cum ea, pedissequæ ejus, et secuta est nuntios David: et facta est illi uxor.

43Sed et Achinoam accepit David de Jezraël: et fuit utraque uxor ejus.

44Saul autem dedit Michol filiam suam, uxorem David, Phalti filio Lais, qui erat de Gallim.

1Then Samuel died, and all of Israel gathered together, and they mourned him. And they buried him at his house in Ramah. And David, rising up, descended to the desert of Paran.

2Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were at Carmel. And this man was exceedingly great. And three thousand sheep, and one thousand goats were his. And it happened that he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.

3Now the name of this man was Nabal. And the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a very prudent and beautiful woman. But her husband was hard-hearted, and very wicked, and malicious. And he was of the stock of Caleb.

4Therefore, when David, in the desert, had heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep,

5he sent ten young men, and he said to them: “Ascend to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name peacefully.

6And you shall say: ‘Peace be to my brothers and to you, and peace to your house, and peace to whatever you have.

7I have heard that your shepherds, who were with us in the desert, were shearing. We have never troubled them, nor was anything from the flock missing to them at any time, during the entire time that they have been with us in Carmel.

8Question your servants, and they will tell you. Now therefore, may your servants find favor in your eyes. For we have arrived on a good day. Whatever your hand will find, give it to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

9And when the servants of David had arrived, they spoke to Nabal all these words in the name of David. And then they were silent.

10But Nabal, responding to the servants of David, said: “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, servants who are fleeing from their lords are increasing.

11Therefore, shall I take my bread, and my water, and the meat of the cattle that I have slain for my shearers, and give it to men, when I do not know where they are from?”

12And so the servants of David traveled back along their way. And returning, they went and reported to him all the words that he had said.

13Then David said to his servants, “Let each one gird his sword.” And each one girded his sword. And David also girded his sword. And about four hundred men followed David. But two hundred remained behind with the supplies.

14Then it was reported to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, by one of his servants, saying: “Behold, David has sent messengers from the desert, so that they might speak kindly to our lord. But he turned them away.

15These men were good enough to us, and were not troublesome. Neither did we ever lose anything, during the entire time that we conversed with them in the desert.

16They were a wall to us, as much in the night as in the day, during all the days that we were with them, pasturing the sheep.

17For this reason, consider and realize what you should do. For evil has been decided against your husband and against your house. And he is a son of Belial, so that no one is able to speak to him.”

18And so Abigail hurried, and she took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five cooked sheep, and five measures of cooked grain, and one hundred clusters of dried grapes, and two hundred masses of dried figs, and she set them upon donkeys.

19And she said to her servants: “Go before me. Behold, I will follow after your back.” But she did not reveal it to her husband, Nabal.

20And when she had climbed on a donkey, and was descending to the base of the mountain, David and his men were descending to meet her. And she met them.

21And David said: “Truly, in vain have I preserved all that was his in the wilderness, so that nothing perished out of all that belonged to him. And he has repaid evil to me for good.

22May God do these things, by the enemies of David, and may he add these other things, if I leave behind until morning, out of all that belongs to him, anything that urinates against a wall.”

23Then, when Abigail had seen David, she hurried and descended from the donkey. And she fell upon her face before David, and she reverenced on the ground.

24And she fell at his feet, and she said: “May this iniquity be upon me, my lord. I beg you, let your handmaid speak to your ears, and listen to the words of your servant.

25Let not my lord, the king, I beseech you, set his heart upon this iniquitous man, Nabal. For in accord with his name, he is senseless, and foolishness is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see your servants, my lord, whom you had sent.

26Now therefore, my lord, as your soul lives, and as the Lord lives, who has kept your hand to yourself, and has prevented you from coming to blood: now, let your enemies be like Nabal, and like all those who are seeking evil for my lord.

27Because of this, accept this blessing, which your handmaid has brought to you, my lord. And give it to the young men who follow you, my lord.

28Forgive the iniquity of your handmaid. For the Lord will surely make for you, my lord, a faithful house, because you, my lord, fight the battles of the Lord. Therefore, let no evil be found in you all the days of your life.

29For if a man, at any time, will rise up, pursuing you and seeking your life, the life of my lord will be preserved, as if in the sheave of the living, with the Lord your God. But the lives of your enemies will be spun around, as if with the force of a whirling sling.

30Therefore, when the Lord will have done for you, my lord, all the good that he has spoken about you, and when he will have appointed you as leader over Israel,

31this will not be for you a regret or a scruple of the heart, my lord, that you had shed innocent blood, or had taken revenge for yourself. And when the Lord will have done well for my lord, you shall remember your handmaid.”

32And David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. And blessed is your eloquence.

33And blessed are you, who prevented me today from going to blood, and from taking revenge for myself with my own hand.

34But instead, as the Lord God of Israel lives, he has prevented me from doing evil to you. But if you had not come quickly to meet me, there would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light, anything that urinates against a wall.”

35Then David received from her hand all that she had brought to him. And he said to her: “Go in peace to your own house. Behold, I have heeded your voice, and I have honored your face.”

36Then Abigail went to Nabal. And behold, he was holding a feast for himself in his house, like the feast of a king. And the heart of Nabal was cheerful. For he was greatly inebriated. And she did not reveal a word to him, small or great, until morning.

37Then, at first light, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife revealed to him these words, and his heart died within himself, and he became like a stone.

38And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

39And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: “Blessed is the Lord, who has judged the case of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and who has preserved his servant from evil. And the Lord has repaid the malice of Nabal upon his own head.” Then David sent and he spoke with Abigail, so that he might take her to himself as wife.

40And David’s servants went to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, so that he might take you to himself as wife.”

41And rising up, she reverenced prone on the ground, and she said, “Behold, let your servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.”

42And Abigail rose up and hurried, and she climbed upon a donkey, and five girls went with her, her attendants. And she followed the messengers of David, and she became his wife.

43Moreover, David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel. And both of them were his wives.

44Then Saul gave his daughter Michal, the wife of David, to Palti, the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.