1 Samuel died. The whole nation of Israel gathered together. They were filled with sorrow because he was dead. They buried his body at his home in Ramah. Then David went down into the Desert of Maon.
2 A certain man in Maon was very wealthy. He owned property there at Carmel. He had 1,000 goats and 3,000 sheep. He was clipping the wool off the sheep in Carmel.
3 His name was Nabal. His wife's name was Abigail. She was a wise and beautiful woman. But her husband was rude and mean in the way he treated others. He was from the family of Caleb.
4 David was staying in the Desert of Maon. While he was there, he heard that Nabal was clipping the wool off his sheep.
5 So he sent for ten young men. He said to them, "Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him for me.
6 Say to him, 'May you live a long time! May everything go well with you and your family! And may things go well with everything that belongs to you!
7 " 'I hear that you are clipping the wool off your sheep. When your shepherds were with us, we treated them well. The whole time they were at Carmel nothing that belonged to them was stolen.