^aThen Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and ^blamented for him and ^cburied him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the ^dwilderness of Paran.

2 Now there was a man in ^aMaon whose work was in ^bCarmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. And it happened, while ^che was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his ^awife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was good in insight and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was ^ba Calebite), 4 that 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, come to Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and thus you shall say, ‘¹Have a long life; ^apeace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 So now I have heard ^athat you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us; and we have not dishonored them, ^bnor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on ^aa ¹festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son, to David.’”

9 Then David’s young men came and spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name. Then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “^aWho is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 11 Shall I then ^atake my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men ¹whose origin I do not know?” 12 So David’s young men went back on their way and returned; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about ^afour hundred men went up behind David, and two hundred ^bstayed with the baggage.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to ^1agreet our master, and he rushed at them angrily. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not ^adishonored, nor did we miss anything ¹as long as we went about with them, while we were in the field. 16 ^aThey were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them shepherding the sheep. 17 So now, know and see what you should do, for evil is decided against our master and against all his household; and he is such a ¹vile man that no one can speak to him.”

18 Then Abigail hurried and ^atook two hundred loaves of bread and two ¹jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and ²five seahs of roasted grain and one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to her young men, “^aGo on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 So it was happening, as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely for a lie I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has ^areturned me evil for good. 22 ^aMay God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, ^bif by morning I leave as much as one ¹male of any who belong to him.”

23 Then Abigail saw David; so she hurried and dismounted from her donkey and fell on her face ¹before David ^aand bowed herself to the ground. 24 And she fell at his feet and said, “On me ¹alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and listen to the words of your maidservant. 25 Please do not let my lord ¹pay attention to this ²vile man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. ³Nabal is his name, and wicked foolishness is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

26 “So now, my lord, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has restrained you from ¹shedding blood, and ^afrom saving yourself by your own hand, so now, ^blet your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. 27 So now let ^athis ¹gift which your servant-woman has brought to my lord be given to the young men who ²went about with my lord. 28 Please forgive ^athe transgression of your maidservant; for ^bYahweh will certainly make for my lord an enduring house because my lord is ^cfighting the battles of Yahweh, and ^devil will not be found in you all your days. 29 And should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your ¹life, then the ²life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Yahweh your God; but the ³lives of your enemies ^aHe will sling out ⁴as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And it will be that when Yahweh does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and ^aappoints you ruler over Israel, 31 then this will not ¹cause stumbling or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having saved himself. ^aWhen Yahweh deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

32 Then David said to Abigail, “^aBlessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33 and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, ^awho have kept me this day from ¹bloodshed and from saving myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, ^awho has restrained me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one ¹male.” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “^aGo up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice and ^1bgranted your request.”

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding ^aa feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, ^bfor he was very drunk; so ^cshe did not tell him anything small or great until the morning light. 37 But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone. 38 Now it happened that about ten days later, ^aYahweh smote Nabal, and he died.

39 Then David heard that Nabal was dead, so he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has ^apleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and ^bhas kept back His servant from evil. Yahweh has also returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent ^1ca proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 Then the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel and spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.” 41 And she arose ^aand bowed with her ¹face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a servant-woman ^bto wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then ^aAbigail hurried and arose, and she rode on a donkey, with her five young women who ¹went about with her; and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife.

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

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