1. Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2. 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
3. (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),
4. that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5. So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him in my name;
6. and thus you shall say, 'Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.
7. Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel.