¶ And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented² him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness⁴ of Paran.

¶ And there was a man in Maon⁵, whose possessions were⁶ in Carmel; and the man⁷ was very great, and he had three thousand⁸ sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing⁹ his sheep in Carmel¹⁰.

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good¹¹ understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish¹² and evil in his doings; and he was¹³ of the house of Caleb.

And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear¹⁴ his sheep.

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 him¹⁵ in my name:

And thus shall ye say to him that liveth¹⁶ in prosperity, Peace be both¹⁷ to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.

And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds¹⁸ which were with us, we hurt¹⁹ them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day²⁰: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son²¹ David.

And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased²².

¶ And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David²³? and who is the son of Jesse? there be²⁴ many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.

Shall I then²⁵ take my bread, and my water, and my flesh²⁶ that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom²⁷ I know not whence they be?

¶ So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came²⁸ and told him all those sayings.

And David said unto his men, Gird ye²⁹ on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also³⁰ girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred³¹ abode by the stuff.

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them³².

But the men were very good³³ unto us, and we were not hurt³⁴, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:

They were a wall³⁵ unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil³⁶ is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial³⁷, that a man³⁸ cannot speak to him.

¶ Then Abigail made haste³⁹, and took two⁴⁰ hundred loaves, and two bottles⁴¹ of wine, and five sheep⁴² ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters⁴³ of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs,⁴⁴ and laid them on asses.

And she said unto her servants, Go⁴⁵ on before me; behold, I come after you. But⁴⁶ she told not her husband Nabal.

¶ And it was so, as she rode⁴⁷ on the ass, that she came down⁴⁸ by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.

Now David had said, Surely⁴⁹ in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited⁵⁰ me evil for good.

So and more⁵¹ also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave⁵² of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth⁵³ against the wall.

And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted⁵⁴ off the ass, and fell⁵⁵ before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

And fell⁵⁶ at his feet, and said, Upon⁵⁷ me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine⁵⁸ handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience⁵⁹, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard⁶⁰ this man of Belial⁶¹, even Nabal⁶²: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth⁶³, and as thy⁶⁴ soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath⁶⁵ withholden thee from⁶⁶ coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself⁶⁷ with thine own hand, now let⁶⁸ thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

And now this blessing⁶⁹ which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow⁷⁰ my lord.

I pray thee, forgive⁷¹ the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD⁷² will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth⁷³ the battles of the LORD, and evil hath⁷⁴ not been found in thee all thy days.

Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound⁷⁵ in the bundle of life with the LORD⁷⁶ thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out⁷⁷, as out of the middle of a sling⁷⁸.

¶ And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according⁷⁹ to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;

That this shall be no grief⁸⁰ unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged⁸¹ himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember⁸² thine handmaid.

¶ And David said to Abigail, Blessed⁸³ be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:

And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

¶ 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 drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

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.

And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent¹⁰² and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.

¶ And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.

And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.

But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.