1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented over him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 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.
3 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 surly and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5 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:
6 And thus shall you say to him that lives in prosperity, Peace be both to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be unto all that you have.
7 And now I have heard that you have shearers: now your shepherds which were with us, we hurt not, neither was there anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask your young men, and they will show you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes: for we come on a feast day: give, I pray you, whatsoever comes to your hand unto your servants, and to your son David.
9 And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now days that break away each man from his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not from where they be?
12 So David's young men turned away, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
13 And David said unto his men, Gird you 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 supplies.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master; and he railed at them.
15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields:
16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
17 Now therefore know and consider what you will 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.
18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep already dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
20 And it was so, as she rode on the donkey, that she came down under cover of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.
21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he has repaid me evil for good.
22 God do so and more also unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that belong to him by the morning light even one male.
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hastened, and got off the donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let your handmaid, I pray you, speak in your audience, and hear the words of your handmaid.
25 Let not my lord, I pray you, 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 your handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom you did send.
26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, seeing the LORD has held you back from coming to shed blood, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
27 And now this blessing which your handmaid has brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
28 I pray you, forgive the trespass of your handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord an enduring house; because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil has not been found in you all your days.
29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you, and to seek your soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the souls of your enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you ruler over Israel;
31 That this shall be no grief unto you, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid.
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be your advice, and blessed be you, who has kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand.
34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any remaining males.
35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to your house; see, I have hearkened to your voice, and have accepted your person.
36 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 drunk: therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until the morning light.
37 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.
38 And it came to pass about ten days later, that the LORD struck Nabal, that he died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept his servant from evil: for the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and talked with Abigail, to take her to be his wife.
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke unto her, saying, David sent us unto you, to take you to be his wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 And Abigail hastened, and arose, and rode upon a donkey, with five of her young women that attended her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.
44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.