A certain man had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings.

While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!

“ ‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’ ”

Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

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JAN NOORTIG
"Nabal Refusing Provisions to King David's Emmissaries"

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David’s men reported every word. David said to his men, “Put on your swords!” So they put on their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David.

One of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail: “David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. Night and day they were a wall around us all the time we were herding our sheep near them. Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”

Abigail lost no time. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: “May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.

“Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the LORD’s battles. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant.”

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JAMES TISSOT
"Abigail Kneels before David"

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"Please, let your slave speak to your ears"

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FRANS FRANCKEN II
"David and Abigail"

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HANS JORDAENS III
"David Meets Abigail"

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PETER PAUL RUBENS
"The Meeting of David and Abigail"

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GIUSEPPE MARIA CRESPI
"The Offering of Abigail before David"

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LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE
"David Receiving Round Bread"

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13
"Abigail Bringing Gift to David"

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JACOB WILLEMSZ DE WET THE ELDER
"The Meeting of David and Abigail"

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JOSEPH SCHONMANN
"David and Abigail"

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LLUÍS RIBES MATEU
"The Meeting of David and Abigail"

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PETER VAN LINT
"David and Abigail"

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ANTONIO MOLINARI
"David and Abigail"

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JUAN ANTONIO ESCALANTE
"Prudent Abigail"

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JULIUS SCHNORR VON CAROLSFELD
"David and Abigail"

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GIUSTINO MENESCARDI
"Abigail Soothes and Disarms David
Indignant against Her Husband Nabal"

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David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.”

Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”

When Abigail went to Nabal, she told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.

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"Abigail Tends Nabal"

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five maids, went with David’s messengers and became his wife.

New International Version ©1984, Abrdgd, EMPHASES Added
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