1. Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. David then left and went down to the Maon wilderness.
2. There was a man in Maon who did business in Carmel. He was a very important man and owned three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. At that time, he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3. The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and attractive woman, but her husband was a hard man who did evil things. He was a Calebite.
4. While in the wilderness, David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5. So David sent ten servants, telling them, "Go up to Carmel. When you get to Nabal, greet him for me.
6. Say this to him: ‘Peace to you, your household, and all that is yours!
7. I’ve heard that you are now shearing sheep. As you know, your shepherds were with us in the wilderness. We didn’t mistreat them. Moreover, the whole time they were at Carmel, nothing of theirs went missing.
8. Ask your servants; they will tell you the same. So please receive these young men favorably, because we’ve come on a special day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.’"
9. When David’s young men arrived, they said all this to Nabal on David’s behalf. Then they waited.
10. But Nabal answered David’s servants, "Who is David? Who is Jesse’s son? There are all sorts of slaves running away from their masters these days.
11. Why should I take my bread, my water, and the meat I’ve butchered for my shearers and give it to people who came here from who knows where?"
12. So David’s young servants turned around and went back the way they came. When they arrived, they reported every word of this to David.
13. Then David said to his soldiers, "All of you, strap on your swords!" So each of them strapped on their swords, and David did the same. Nearly four hundred men went up with David. Two hundred men remained back with the supplies.
14. One of Nabal’s servants told his wife Abigail, "David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he just yelled at them.