Coverdale(i)
24 and fell at his fete, and sayde: Oh my lorde, let this trespace be myne, and let thy handmayde speake before thine eares, and heare the wordes of thy handmayden:
25 Let not my lorde set his hert agaynst this Nabal the man of Belial, for he is a foole, acordinge as his name is called: his name is foole, and foolishnes is with him. As for me thy handmayde, I sawe not my lordes yonge men, whom thou dyddest sende.
26 But now my lorde, as truly as the LORDE lyueth, and as truly as thy soule lyueth, the LORDE hath kepte the backe, yt thou shuldest not come agaynst bloude, and he hath delyuered thine hande. Thine enemyes be now as Nabal, and so be they that wolde my lorde euell.
27 Here is ye blessynge, yt thy handmayde hath brought my lorde, take it, and geue it vnto the yonge men, that walke vnder my lorde.
28 For a sure house shal ye LORDE make my lorde, which fighteth the fighte of the LORDE, and no euell shall be founde in the all thy life longe.
29 And yf eny man ryse vp to persecute ye, and to laye wayte for thy soule, then shal the soule of my lorde be bounde in the bundell of ye lyuynge, euen with the LORDE thy God. But ye soule of thine enemies shalbe turned backe wt the slynge.
30 Whan the LORDE therfore doth all this good for my lorde (which he hath promysed the) and commaundeth ye to be his Duke ouer Israel,
31 then shal it be no stomblinge blocke ner occasiion of fallynge vnto my lordes hert, that thou hast not shed bloude without a cause, and auenged thy selfe, then shal ye LORDE do good vnto my lorde, and thou shalt thynke vpon thy handmayden.
32 Then saide Dauid vnto Abigail: Blessed be the LORDE God of Israel, which hath sent the to mete me this daye:
33 and blessed be thy speach, and blessed be thou, which hast kepte me backe this daye, that I am not come agaynst bloude, to auenge me with myne awne hande.
34 Verely (as truly as the LORDE the God of Israel lyueth, which hath hyndred me that I shulde do the no euell.) Yf thou haddest not met me in all the haist, Nabal shulde not haue had lefte him vntyll ye lighte mornynge, so moch as one that maketh water agaynst the wall.
35 So Dauid toke of hir hade what she had broughte him, and sayde vnto her: Go vp in peace vnto yi house: beholde, I haue herkened vnto yi voyce, and accepted thy personne.
36 But whan Abigail came to Nabal, beholde, he had prepared a feast in his house like a kynges feast, and his hert was mery, for he was very dronken. And she tolde him nothinge, nether small ner greate vntyll ye cleare mornynge.
37 But whan it was daye, & the wyne was come from Nabal, his wife tolde him these thinges. Then was his hert deed in his body, so that he became euen as a stone:
38 and ouer ten dayes the LORDE smote him, so yt he dyed.
39 Whan Dauid herde that Nabal was deed, he sayde: Blessed be ye LORDE which hath auenged my rebuke on Nabal, and preserued his seruaunt from euell. And the LORDE hath rewarded Nabal that euell vpon his heade. And Dauid sent, and caused to talke with Abigail, yt he mighte take her to wife.
40 And whan Dauids seruauntes came to Abigail vnto Carmel, they spake vnto her, and saide: Dauid hath sent vs vnto the, that he maye take ye to wife.
41 She rose vp, and worshipped vpon hir face vnto the earth, and sayde: beholde, here is thy handmayde, that she maie do seruyce vnto the seruauntes of my lorde,
42 and to wasshe their fete. And Abigail made haist, and gat her vp, and rode vpo an asse, and fyue maydens that were vnder her, and wente after Dauids messaungers, and became his wife.
43 Dauid toke Ahinoam of Iesrael also, and they both became his wyues.
44 But Saul gaue Michol his doughter the wife of Dauid vnto Phalti ye sonne of Lais of Gallim.