23. And when Abigail saw David, she hastened and lighted off the ass and fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground
24. and fell at his feet and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be, and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thy audience; and hear the words of thy handmaid.
25. Let not my lord, I pray thee, take to heart this man of Belial, even Nabal, for as his name is, so is he; Nabal {Heb. fool} is his name, and folly is with him; but I, thy handmaid, did not see the servants of my lord whom thou didst send.
26. Now, therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and as thy soul lives, seeing the Lord has withheld thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thy own hand, now let thy enemies and those that seek evil to my lord be as Nabal.
27. And now this blessing which thy handmaid has brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the servants that follow my lord.
28. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thy handmaid, for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days.
29. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God, and he shall hurl forth the souls of thine enemies as out of the middle of a sling.
30. And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel,
31. that this shall be no stumblingblock unto thee nor grief of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless or that my lord has avenged himself; but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.
32. Then David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent thee this day to meet me;
33. and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou who hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with my own hand.
34. For in very deed as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that piss against the wall.
35. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him and said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice and have accepted thy person.
36. And Abigail came to Nabal, and, behold, he held a banquet in his house like the banquet of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken; therefore, she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
37. But it came to pass in the morning when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, and he died.
39. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord that judged the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept his slave from evil, for the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent word unto Abigail to take her to him to wife.