⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept^(A) you from sinning against me.^(B) That is why I did not let you touch her.

³⁴ Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal^(A) would have been left alive by daybreak.”

²⁶ And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed^(A) and from avenging^(B) yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.^(C)

⁷ For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back^(A) will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.