20. As she was riding her donkey, going down a trail on the hillside, David and his soldiers appeared, descending toward her, and she met up with them.
21. David had just been saying, "What a waste of time—guarding all this man’s stuff in the wilderness so that nothing of his went missing! He has repaid me evil instead of good!
22. May God deal harshly with me, David, and worse still if I leave alive even one single one who urinates on a wall belonging to him come morning!"
23. When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and fell facedown before him, bowing low to the ground.
24. She fell at his feet and said, "Put the blame on me, my master! But please let me, your servant, speak to you directly. Please listen to what your servant has to say.
25. Please, my master, pay no attention to this despicable man Nabal. He’s exactly what his name says he is! His name means fool, and he is foolish! But I myself, your servant, didn’t see the young men that you, my master, sent.
26. I pledge, my master, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, that the Lord has held you back from bloodshed and taking vengeance into your own hands! But now let your enemies and those who seek to harm my master be exactly like Nabal!
27. Here is a gift, which your servant has brought to my master. Please let it be given to the young men who follow you, my master.
28. Please forgive any offense by your servant. The Lord will definitely make an enduring dynasty for my master because my master fights the Lord’s battles, and nothing evil will be found in you throughout your lifetime.
29. If someone chases after you and tries to kill you, my master, then your life will be bound up securely in the bundle of life by the Lord your God, but he will fling away your enemies’ lives as from the pouch of a sling.
30. When the Lord has done for my master all the good things he has promised you, and has installed you as Israel’s leader,
31. don’t let this be a blot or burden on my master’s conscience, that you shed blood needlessly or that my master took vengeance into his own hands. When the Lord has done good things for my master, please remember your servant."
32. David said to Abigail, "Bless the Lord God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!
33. And bless you and your good judgment for preventing me from shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands today!
34. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord God of Israel lives—the one who kept me from hurting you—if you hadn’t come quickly and met up with me, there wouldn’t be one single one who urinates on a wall left come morning."
35. Then David accepted everything she had brought for him. "Return home in peace," he told her. "Be assured that I’ve heard your request and have agreed to it."
36. When Abigail got back home to Nabal, he was throwing a party fit for a king in his house. Nabal was in a great mood and very drunk, so Abigail didn’t tell him anything until daybreak.
37. In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him everything. Nabal’s heart failed inside him, and he became like a stone.