Old Testament

New Testament

1 Samuel 25:26-37 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

26. Now 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.

27. Because 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.

28. Forgive 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.

29. For 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.

30. Therefore, 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,

31. this 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."

32. And 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.

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

34. But 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."

35. Then 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."

36. Then 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.

37. Then, 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.

Read complete chapter 1 Samuel 25