¹When Samuel died, the whole of Israel gathered and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the Desert of Paran. ²Now a man in Maon, whose business was at Carmel, a man who was very wealthy, who had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats, was busy with the shearing of his sheep at Carmel. ³And the man's name was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail, and the woman was very intelligent and attractive in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his actions, and he was a Calebite. ⁴Now David heard in the desert that Nabal was shearing his sheep, ⁵and David sent ten servant-lads, and David said to the servant-lads, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and ask him how he is in my name. ⁶And say this to the man who lives well: ‘Peace to you and peace to your household, and peace to all of yours. ⁷Well now, I have heard that you have shearers, and now as for your shepherds who were with us, we have not put them to shame, and they didn't lack anything all the time they were at Carmel. ⁸Ask your servant-lads, and they will tell you, and may the servant-lads find favour in your sight, for we have come on a good day. Please give what you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’ ” ⁹So David's servant-lads went there, and they spoke to Nabal in line with all these words in David's name, then they paused. ¹⁰Then Nabal answered David's servants and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? Nowadays there are many servants who break away from their master. ¹¹So should I take my bread and my water, and my meat which I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men when I don't know where they are from?” ¹²Then David's servant-lads turned back to their way and returned, and when they had arrived, they told him about all these things. ¹³At this David said to his men, “Let each man gird on his sword.” And each man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David, and two hundred remained with the equipment. ¹⁴But one of the servant-lads told Abigail, Nabal's wife, and he said, “Look, David sent messengers from the desert to bless our lord, but he reacted aggressively to them. ¹⁵But the men were very good to us, and we were not treated contemptuously, and we did not miss anything all the time we associated with them, when we were in the countryside. ¹⁶They were a wall to us, both night and day, all the time when we were with them tending the sheep. ¹⁷So now, decide and see what you will do, for evil has been resolved against our lord and on all his house, and he is too useless to speak to.” ¹⁸Then Abigail acted quickly, and she took two hundred loaves and two wineskins of wine, and five prepared sheep, and five seahs of parched grain, and one hundred measures of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and she put them on the donkeys. ¹⁹And she said to her servant-lads, “Go across in front of me, and you will see me coming behind you.” But she did not tell Nabal her husband. ²⁰And it came to pass as she was riding on a donkey that she came down to the hiding place in the hill, and along came David and his men, coming down towards her, and she met them. ²¹And David said, “Surely it was in vain that I kept everything of this man's in the desert – and nothing of his went missing – but he requited me with evil for good. ²²May God do such to David's enemies and add more if I leave anyone, of all who belong to him, who urinates against a wall, alive until morning.” ²³Then when Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted from the donkey and fell face down before David and bowed to the ground. ²⁴And she fell at his feet and said, “My lord, let the iniquity be on me, and let your handmaid speak a word in your ear, and listen to the words of your handmaid. ²⁵May my lord not pay attention to this useless man, to Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly accompanies him, and I am your handmaid who did not see my lord's servant-lads whom you sent. ²⁶So now, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your being lives, since the Lord has prevented you from embarking on bloodshed, and from your own ability giving you victory, so now may your enemies and those who are seeking my lord's harm be as Nabal. ²⁷And now, may this gift, which your handmaid has brought for my lord, be given to the servant-lads who are following at my lord's feet. ²⁸Please forgive your handmaid's transgression, for the Lord will certainly make my lord a secure house, for my lord is fighting the Lord's wars, and evil has not been found in you in all your days. ²⁹But a man has arisen to pursue you and to seek your life, but my lord's life is wrapped up in the bundle of life with the Lord your God, but as for the life of your enemies, he will sling it out as from the cradle of a sling. ³⁰And it will come to pass that the Lord will do for my lord all the good he has spoken about concerning you, and he will appoint you as leader over Israel. ³¹And don't let this be an unsettling matter to you, or a disconcerting affair to my lord, whether it is about shedding blood for no reason, or my lord giving himself victory, and may the Lord do good to my lord, and may you remember your handmaid.” ³²Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who has sent you to me today. ³³And blessed is your conduct and blessed are you, in that you have stopped me on this day from embarking on bloodshed, and from my own ability giving me victory. ³⁴But as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has prevented me from harming you, for unless you had hastened in coming to me, Nabal would certainly not have had anyone who urinates against a wall left to him by morning light.” ³⁵And David took what she had brought him from her hand, and he said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. Look, I have heeded you, and I have granted your request.” ³⁶Then Abigail went to Nabal, and she saw that he was holding a banquet in his house like the king's banquet, and Nabal's heart was merry, and he was very drunk, and she didn't tell him anything great or small until morning light. ³⁷Then it came to pass in the morning, when the effects of the wine had gone from Nabal, that when his wife told him these things, his heart died within him, and he became like stone. ³⁸And it came to pass after ten days that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. ³⁹And David heard that Nabal had died, and he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has vindicated me who was held in contempt from Nabal's stand, and who has saved his servant from harm, and the Lord has turned Nabal's harm back on his head.” Then David sent men to tell Abigail that he would take her to be his wife. ⁴⁰And David's servants came to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her and said, “David has sent us to you to take you to be his wife.” ⁴¹Then she arose and bowed with her face to the ground, and she said, “Here I am as your handmaid, as a servant-girl to wash the feet of my lord's servants.” ⁴²Then Abigail made haste and arose and rode on a donkey, with her five servant-girls walking in her tracks, and she followed David's messengers, and she became his wife. ⁴³And David took Ahinoam from Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. ⁴⁴And Saul gave Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish who was from Gallim.