1 Samuel 25:23-44

New International Version

²³When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.^(A) ²⁴She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^(B) and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. ²⁵Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool^(C),^(D) and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. ²⁶And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed^(E) and from avenging^(F) yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.^(G) ²⁷And let this gift,^(H) which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.

²⁸“Please forgive^(I) your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting^(J) dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles,^(K) and no wrongdoing^(L) will be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life,^(M) the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl^(N) away as from the pocket of a sling.^(O) ³⁰When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler^(P) over Israel, ³¹my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember^(Q) your servant.”^(R)

³²David said to Abigail, “Praise^(S) be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. ³³May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed^(T) this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. ³⁴Otherwise, 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^(U) would have been left alive by daybreak.”

³⁵Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted^(V) your request.”

³⁶When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high^(W) spirits and very drunk.^(X) So she told^(Y) him nothing at all until daybreak. ³⁷Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.^(Z) ³⁸About ten days later, the Lord struck^(AA) Nabal and he died.

³⁹When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. ⁴⁰His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”

⁴¹She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴²Abigail^(AB) quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. ⁴³David had also married Ahinoam^(AC) of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.^(AD) ⁴⁴But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel^[a]^(AE) son of Laish, who was from Gallim.^(AF)