^aNow Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and ^bmourned for him, and they ^cburied him at his house in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the ^dWilderness of Paran.

2 Now there was a man in ^aMaon whose business and possessions were in ^bCarmel; and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and ^che was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal and his ^awife’s name was Abigail. She was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; he was ^ba ¹Calebite). 4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and ¹greet him in my name; 6 and this is what you shall say, ‘^1aHave a long life! Peace be to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have. 7 Now I have heard ^athat you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not harmed them, nor were they ^bmissing anything all the time they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight and be well-treated, for we have come on a ^1agood (festive) day. ²Please, give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

9 When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David; then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “^aWho is David? And who is the son of Jesse? ¹There are many servants today, each of whom is breaking away from his master. 11 So should I ^atake my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?” 12 So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said to them by Nabal. 13 David said to his men, “Each man put on your sword.” So each man put on his sword. David also put on his sword, and about ^afour hundred men went up behind David while two hundred ^bstayed back with the provisions and supplies.

14 But one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Listen, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to ^abless (greet) our master, and he shouted at them in contempt. 15 But David’s men were very good to us, and we were not ^aharmed or treated badly, nor did we miss anything as long as we were with them, when we were in the fields. 16 ^aThey were a wall of protection to us both night and day, all the time that we were with them tending the sheep. 17 Now then, know this and consider what you should do, for evil is already planned against our master and against all his household; but he is such a ¹worthless and wicked man that one cannot speak reasonably to him.”

18 Then Abigail hurried and ^atook two hundred loaves of bread, two jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared for roasting, five measures of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 She said to her young men (servants) , “^aGo on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 It happened that as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by way of the hidden part of the mountain, that suddenly David and his men were coming down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected and guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him; and he has ^arepaid me evil for good. 22 ^aMay God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, ^bif by morning I leave alive even one ¹male of any who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from the donkey, and ¹kneeled face downward before David ^aand bowed down to the ground in respect. 24 ¹Kneeling at his feet she said, “My lord, let the blame and guilt be on me alone. And please let your maidservant speak ²to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25 Please do not let my lord ¹pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal (fool) is his ²name and foolishness (stupidity) is with him; but I your maidservant did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

26 “So now, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has prevented you from shedding blood, and ^afrom avenging yourself by your own hand, now then ^blet your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord, be as self-destructive as Nabal. 27 Now ^athis gift, which your maidservant has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who ¹accompany and follow my lord. 28 Please forgive ^athe transgression of your maidservant; for ^bthe LORD will certainly make my lord a secure and enduring house, because my lord is ^cfighting the battles of the LORD, and ^devil will not be found in you all your days. 29 Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound in the precious bundle of the living with the LORD your God; but the lives of your enemies—those ^aHe will hurl out as from the center of a sling. 30 And it will happen when the LORD does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken (promised) concerning you, and ^aappoints you ruler over Israel, 31 that this incident will not cause grief or bring a troubled conscience to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. ^aWhen the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember with favor your maidservant.”

32 David said to Abigail, “^aBlessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day. 33 And blessed be your discretion and discernment, and blessed be you, ^awho has kept me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as the LORD the God of Israel lives, ^awho has prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, most certainly by the morning light there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 So David ¹accepted what she had brought to him and said to her, “^aGo up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and have ^2bgranted your request.”

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding ^aa feast in his house for the shearers, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s ¹mood was joyous ^bbecause he was very drunk; so ^cshe told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 But in the morning, when ¹Nabal was sober, and his wife told him these things, his ²heart died within him and he became paralyzed and helpless like a stone. 38 About ten days later, ^athe LORD struck Nabal and he died.

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has ^apleaded the cause of my reproach suffered at the hand of Nabal and has ^bkept His servant from retaliating with evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent ^cword to Abigail, proposing to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to you to take you to him to be his wife.” 41 And she stood ^aand bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is ready to be a maid ^bto wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 Then ^aAbigail quickly got up, and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens who ¹attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David had also taken Ahinoam of ^aJezreel, and ^bthey both became his wives.

44 But Saul had given ^aMichal his younger daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from ^bGallim.