1 Samuel 25:36-44 - Nabal's Death

³⁶ Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.

³⁷ But in the morning, when Nabal was sober, and his wife told him these things, his heart died within him and he became [paralyzed and helpless] like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach [suffered] at the hand of Nabal and has kept His servant from [retaliating with] evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, proposing to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to you to take you [to him] to be his wife.”

⁴¹ And she stood and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is [ready to be] a maid to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” ⁴² Then Abigail quickly got up, and rode on a donkey, with five of her maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives. ⁴⁴ But Saul had given Michal his [younger] daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.