5. so David sent 10 young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him in my name.
6. Then say this: ‘Long life to you, and peace to you, to your family, and to all that is yours.
7. I hear that you are shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.
8. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
9. David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf, and they waited.
10. Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters.
11. Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.”
12. David’s men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words.
13. He said to his men, “All of you, put on your swords! ” So David and all his men put on their swords. About 400 men followed David while 200 stayed with the supplies.
14. One of Nabal’s young men informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife: “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he yelled at them.
15. The men treated us well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them.
16. They were a wall around us, both day and night, the entire time we were herding the sheep.
17. Now consider carefully what you must do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him! ”
18. Abigail hurried, taking 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.