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Nabal and Abigail
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel
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(now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),
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that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
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So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and visit Nabal, and greet him in my name;
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When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal in accordance with all these words in David’s name; then they waited.
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But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master.
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Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he spoke to them in anger.
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Then she said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
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Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him; but I your slave did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.
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“Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then, may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal.
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Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, there certainly would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male.”
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Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light.
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But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became like a stone.
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About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
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David Marries Abigail
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
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And David lived with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his own household—David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow.
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Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
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So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
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and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur;
