Study Desk

And after that David came out of the hollow rock, and crying after Saul said, My lord the king. And when Saul gave a look back, David went down on his face and gave him honour.

If a man comes across his hater, will he let him get away safe? so may you be rewarded by the Lord for what you have done for me today.

And David gave Saul his oath. And Saul went back to his house; but David and his men went up to their safe place.

And death came to Samuel; and all Israel came together, weeping for him, and put his body in its resting-place in his house at Ramah. Then David went down to the waste land of Maon.

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel.

Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb.

And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.

And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters.

And David said to his men, Put on your swords, every one of you. And every man put on his sword; and David did the same; and about four hundred men went up with David, and two hundred kept watch over their goods.

So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him.

Now while she was going down under cover of the mountain on her ass, David and his men came down against her, and suddenly she came face to face with them.

Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good.

May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.

And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant.

Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent.

And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came.

And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife.

And when David's servants came to Carmel, to Abigail, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.

And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives.

Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.