1Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Maon.

2There 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 the woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings; and the man was a Calebite. 4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten young men, and said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6Thus you are to say to my brother, 'Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7And now, look, I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us in the wilderness, and we did not hurt them, neither was there anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David.'"

9So the young men came and spoke to Nabal according to all those words on David’s behalf, but he behaved arrogantly. 10Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days. 11Shall I then take my bread, and my wine, and my meat that I have slaughtered for the shearers of my sheep, and give it to men who I do not know where they come from?" 12So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words. 13David said to his men, "Every man put on his sword." So every man put on his sword. David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David; and two hundred stayed by the baggage.

14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Look, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master; and he railed at them. 15But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields. 16They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can't speak to him."

18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19She said to her young men, "Go on before me. Look, I come after you." But she did not tell her husband. 20It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that look, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. 21Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good. 22God do so to David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall."

23When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and got off from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground at his feet. 24And she said, "On me, my lord, be the guilt; and please let your servant speak to you directly, and hear the words of your servant. 25Please do not let my lord regard this worthless fellow, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom you sent.

26Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 27Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD; and evil shall not be found in you all your days. 29Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling. 30It shall come to pass, when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel, 31that this will have no cause of grief or a troubled conscience for my lord, that blood was shed without cause and that my lord has gained victory by his own hand. And when the LORD has done well with my lord, then remember your servant."

32David said to Abigail, "Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. 33Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34For indeed, as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall." 35So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, "Go up in peace to your house. Look, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request."

36Abigail came to Nabal; and look, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37It happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38It happened about ten days after, that the LORD struck Nabal, so that he died.

39And David heard, and he said, "Blessed is the LORD, who has taken my side in the matter of Nabal's insult, and has kept back his servant from evil. The LORD has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head." David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife. 40When the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you, to take you to be his wife." 41She got up and bowed herself with her face to the ground, and said, "Look, your servant is a lowly servant to wash the feet of your servants." 42Then Abigail got up quickly and rode on a donkey, and with five female servants following her; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.

43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they both became his wives.

44Now Saul had given Mikal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.