1 Samuel 25:24–44

²⁴She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant. ²⁵My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal,^d for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

²⁶Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

²⁷Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you. ²⁸Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

²⁹And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.^e

³⁰When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel, ³¹then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your servant.”

³²Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day! ³³Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. ³⁴Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

³⁵Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

³⁶When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

³⁷In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

³⁹On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. ⁴⁰When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

⁴¹She arose, bowed facedown, and said, “Here is your servant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

⁴²So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

⁴³David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives. ⁴⁴But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti^f son of Laish, who was from Gallim.