19. and said to her servants, “Go on ahead of me. I will come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20. Riding on her donkey, she went down under cover of the mountain. David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she encountered them.
21. Now David had been thinking, “In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the desert. I didn’t take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil.
22. God will severely punish David, if I leave alive until morning even one male from all those who belong to him!”
23. When Abigail saw David, she got down quickly from the donkey, threw herself down before David, and bowed to the ground.
24. Falling at his feet, she said, “My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant!
25. My lord should not pay attention to this wicked man Nabal. He simply lives up to his name! His name means ‘fool,’ and he is indeed foolish! But I, your servant, did not see the servants my lord sent.
26. “Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, it is the Lord who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands. Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal.
27. Now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the servants who follow my lord.
28. Please forgive the sin of your servant, for the Lord will certainly establish the house of my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord. May no evil be found in you all your days!
29. When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag of the living by the Lord your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket!
30. The Lord will do for my lord everything that he promised you, and he will make you a leader over Israel.
31. Your conscience will not be overwhelmed with guilt for having poured out innocent blood and for having taken matters into your own hands. When the Lord has granted my lord success, please remember your servant.”