1 Samuel 25:14-27

English Standard Version

¹⁴ But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. ¹⁵ Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, ^(A)and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. ¹⁶ They were ^(B)a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷ Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, ^(C)for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such ^(D)a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs^[a] of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. ¹⁹ And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰ And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, ^(E)so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has ^(F)returned me evil for good. ^22 (G)God do so to the enemies of David^[b] and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she hurried ^(H)and got down from the donkey ^(I)and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, ^(J)“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. ²⁵ Let not my lord regard ^(K)this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal^[c] is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. ²⁶ Now then, my lord, ^(L)as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because ^(M)the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from ^(N)saving with your own hand, now then ^(O)let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷ And now let this ^(P)present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.