16. “They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the days we were with them tending the sheep.
17. “And now, know and see what you should do, for evil has been resolved against our master, and against all his household, and he is too much of a son of Beliya‛al to speak to.”
18. Then Aḇig̅ayil made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep made ready, five measures of roasted grain, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
19. And she said to her servants, “Pass over before me. See, I am coming after you.” But she did not inform her husband Naḇal.
20. And it came to be, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill, and there were Dawiḏ and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them.
21. And Dawiḏ had said, “Only in vain have I protected all that this one has in the wilderness, so that not a speck was missing of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good.
22. “Let Elohim do so, and more also, to the enemies of Dawiḏ, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”
23. And Aḇig̅ayil saw Dawiḏ, and she hastened to come down from the donkey, and fell on her face before Dawiḏ, and bowed down to the ground,
24. and fell at his feet and said, “On me, my master, let this crookedness be on me! And please let your female servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your female servant.
25. “Please, let not my master regard this man of Beliya‛al, Naḇal. For as his name is, so is he: Naḇal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your female servant, did not see the young men of my master whom you sent.
26. “And now my master, as יהוה lives and as your being lives, since יהוה has withheld you from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies be as Naḇal, even those seeking evil against my master.
27. “And now this present which your female servant has brought to my master, let it be given to the young men who follow my master.
28. “Please forgive the transgression of your female servant. For יהוה is certainly making a steadfast house for my master, because my master fights the battles of יהוה, and evil is not found in you in all your days.