1And Samuel died. And all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

2And 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. 3Now 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 churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. 4And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. 5And 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. 6And thus shall ye say to him who liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 7And now I have heard that thou hast shearers. Now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there anything missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore, let the young men find favor in thine eyes; for we come in a good day; give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son, David.

9And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 10And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are {be} many servants now a days who break away, every man from his master. 11Shall I, then, take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not from where {whence} they be? 12So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. 13And David said unto his men, Gird ye 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 baggage {stuff}.

14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet {salute} our master; and he railed on them. 15But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we went {were conversant} with them, when we were in the fields: 16They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now, therefore, know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; for he is such a worthless fellow {son of Belial}, that a man cannot speak to him.

18Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. 19And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband, Nabal. 20And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the top of the mountain {covert of the hill}, and, behold, David and his men came down toward {against} her; and she met them. 21Now David had said, Surely 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 requited me evil for good. 22So, and more also, do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any male {child}.

23And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and alighted from {lighted off} the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, 24And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be; and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thy hearing {thine audience}, and hear the words of thine handmaid. 25Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this worthless fellow {man of Belial}, even Nabal; 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. 26Now, therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withheld thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 27And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men who follow my lord. 28I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid; for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. 29Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul; but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall He sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. 30And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done for my lord according to all the good that He hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; 31That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause {causeless}, or that my lord hath avenged himself; but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.

32And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, Who sent thee this day to meet me: 33And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 34For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, Who hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hastened {hasted} and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any male child. 35So 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.

36And 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 {drunken}. Wherefore, she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37But 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. 38And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. 39And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, Who 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 sent and talked {communed} with Abigail, to take her in marriage {to him to wife}. 40And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him in marriage {to wife}. 41And 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. 42And Abigail hastened {hasted}, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers who went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

43David also took Ahinoam, of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives. 44But Saul had given Michal, his daughter, David's wife, to Palti, the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.