1 Samuel 25:18-35

Rotherham^{(i) 18} Then Abigail hastened––and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep made ready, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred cakes of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs,––and put them on the asses. ¹⁹ And she said to her young men––Pass on before me, behold me coming after you; but, to her husband, Nabal, told she nothing. ²⁰ And so it was, as she was riding on her ass, and descending within the covert of the hill, lo! David and his men, descending over against her,––so she met them. ²¹ Now, David, had said––Surely, in vain, did I guard all that pertained to this man in the wilderness, so that there was, nothing, missed of all that he had,––seeing he hath returned to me evil for good. ²² So may God do to David and so may he add, if I leave remaining, of all that he hath, until the morning,––so much as a little boy. ²³ And, when Abigail saw David, she hastened, and alighted from off her ass,––and fell down before David upon her face, and prostrated herself on the ground; ²⁴ yea she fell at his feet, and said––On me, even me, my lord, be the transgression,––But, I pray thee, let thy handmaid speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid. ²⁵ Let it not be, I pray thee, that my lord regard this abandoned man––Nabal; For, as his name is, so, is he. Nabal[=Base], is his name, and, baseness, is with him,––But, I, thy handmaid, saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. ²⁶ Now, therefore, my lord––By the life of Yahweh, and by the life of thine own soul,––seeing Yahweh hath withholden thee from coming in with bloodshed, and from saving thyself, with thine own hand, now, therefore, like Nabal, be thine enemies, and they who are making search for my lord, wrongfully. ²⁷ Now, therefore, this blessing which thy maid–servant hath brought to my lord, let it even be given unto the young men who are going to and fro at the feet of my lord. ²⁸ Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid,––for Yahweh, will certainly make, for my lord an assured house, for, the battles of Yahweh, is my lord fighting, and, wrong, shall not be found in thee, all thy days; ²⁹ yea, though there hath arisen a sun of earth to pursue thee, and to seek thy life, yet shall the life of my lord be bound up in the bundle of the living, with Yahweh thy God, but, as for the life of thine enemies, he shall sling it out with the middle of the hollow of the sling. ³⁰ And it shall be, when Yahweh shall do for my lord, according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee,––and shall put thee in charge as leader over Israel, ³¹ then shall this not become to thee a staggering and stumbling of heart, unto my lord––that thou didst either shed blood without need, or that the hand of my lord saved himself. And, when Yahweh hath dealt well with my lord, then remember thou thy handmaid.
³² Then said David unto Abigail,––Blessed, be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day, to meet me; ³³ and, blessed, be thy discreet judgment, and, blessed, be thou thyself,––who hast kept me, this day, from coming in with bloodshed, and from saving myself, with mine own hand. ³⁴ Nevertheless, by the life of Yahweh, God of Israel, who hath restrained me from harming, thee, surely, except thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, there had not been left unto Nabal, by the light of the morning, so much as a little boy. ³⁵ So David received at her hand, that which she had brought him,––and, unto herself, he said––Go up, in peace, unto thy house, see! I have hearkened unto thy voice, and accepted thy person.