King James Version

1 And Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2 And there was a man in Maon, and his work was in Carmel, and the man was very great, and he had sheep three thousand and a thousand goats, and it was while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his actions, and he was as his name. 4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 And David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and when you come to Nabal, ask him in my name for peace.” 6 And you shall say, "Thus you shall greet: 'Peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have.'" 7 And now I have heard that the shepherds who are yours have been with us; we were not ashamed of them, and nothing was missing from them all the days that they were in Carmel. 8 "Ask your young men, and they will tell you, and the young men will find favor in your eyes, for on a good day for us, grant now what your hand finds for your servants and for your son David." 9 And the young men of David came and spoke to Nabal all these words in the name of David, and they waited. 10 And Nabal answered the servants of David and said, "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? Today there are many servants who are breaking away from their masters." 11 And I will take my bread and my water and my sacrifices that I have sacrificed for the shearers, and I will give them to the men whom I do not know where they are. 12 And the young men of David turned back, and they returned and came and told him all these words. 13 And David said to his men, "Let each man gird on his sword," and they girded on their swords; and David also girded on his sword. And they went up after David, about four hundred men, and two hundred stayed with the supplies. 14 And a certain young man from the servants of Abigail, the wife of Nabal, told, saying, "Behold, David has sent messengers from the desert to bless our lord," and he scolded them. 15 And good men have been very good to us, and we have not been ashamed, and we have not overlooked anything all the days we walked with them while we were in the field. 16 A wall was over us both night and day all the days of our being with the shepherds the flock. 17 And now know and see what you will do, for the evil has come to our lord and upon all his house, and he is a son of Belial, not speaking to me. 18 And Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two skins of wine and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she laid them on the donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, "Cross before me; behold, I will come after you, and to the man she did not tell." 20 And she was riding on the donkey and going down in the secrecy of the mountain, and behold, David and his men were going down to meet her, and she met them. 21 And David said, "Surely I have kept everything that belongs to this in the wilderness, and nothing has been missing from all that belongs to him. And he has returned evil to me for good." 22 Thus God will do to the enemies of David, and thus He will add if I leave of all that is his until the morning, anything that urinates against the wall. 23 And Abigail saw David, and she hurried and descended from the donkey and fell on her face before David and bowed down to the ground. 24 And she fell at my feet and said to me, "I am guilty, my lord; speak, please, to your maidservant in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant." 25 Please do not let my lord set his heart on this worthless man, for his name is Nabal, and he is indeed a fool. I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 And now, as surely as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has withheld you from coming into bloodshed, may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord be like a fool. 27 And now the blessing which your maidservant brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who are walking at the feet of my lord. 28 Lift up, I pray, the sin of Your servant, for the Lord will make a faithful house for my lord, for the battles of the Lord, my lord, will be fought, and evil will not be found in you all your days. 29 And man rose to pursue you and to seek your life, and the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God, and the life of your enemies He will sling out, as from the midst of a sling. 30 And it shall be, when the Lord does for my lord according to all that He has spoken good concerning you and has commanded you to be a ruler over Israel. 31 And this shall not be a snare and a stumbling block to your lord and to shed innocent blood and to save your lord, and the Lord will deal well with your lord, and you shall remember your maidservant. 32 And David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me." 33 And blessed is your taste, and blessed are you, who have redeemed me this day from blood, and saved my hand for me. 34 But as surely as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely not one man would have remained to Nabal by the morning light. 35 And David took from her hand what she had brought to him and said to her, "Go in peace to your house; I see that I have heard your voice, and I have lifted up your face." 36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, there was a feast for him in his house like the feast of a king, and Nabal's heart was good toward her, and he was very drunk, and he had told her nothing small or great until the morning light. 37 And it was in the morning, when the wine went out from the vineyard, that his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 And it came to pass after ten days that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. 39 And David heard that Nabal was dead, and he said, “Blessed be the LORD who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept His servant from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal the LORD has returned upon his own head.” And David sent and spoke to Abigail to take her as his wife. 40 And David's servants came to Abigail at Carmel and spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you to take you as a wife for him." 41 And she arose and bowed down to the ground and said, "Here is your maidservant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord." 42 And Abigail hurried and rose, and she rode on the donkey, and five of her young women went along behind her, and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife. 43 And David took Ahinoam from Jezreel, and they were also both for him as wives. 44 And Saul gave Michal, his daughter, the wife of David, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.