⁴ When the woman from Tekoa went^[a] to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!”

²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”

²⁷ The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” ²⁸ Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’

² On the third day a man^(A) arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head.^(B) When he came to David, he fell^(C) to the ground to pay him honor.^(D)

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.^(A)

³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice^(A) against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”^(B)

⁴¹ After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground.^(A) Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.