1 Samuel 25:18-37

18So Abigail quickly took 200 loaves of bread, 2 full wineskins, 5 butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys.

19“Go on ahead,” she told her young men, “and I’ll follow you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal about it.

20She was riding on her donkey down a hidden mountain path when she met David and his men coming toward her.

21David had thought, “I guarded this man’s stuff in the desert for nothing! Not one of his possessions was missing. Yet, he has paid me back with evil when I was good to him.

22May God punish me  if I leave even one of his men  alive in the morning.”

23When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey. She immediately bowed down in front of David with her face touching the ground.

24After she bowed at his feet, she said, “Sir, let me be held responsible for this wrong. Please let me speak with you. Please listen to my words.

25You shouldn’t take this worthless person Nabal seriously. He is like his name. His name is Nabal [Godless Fool], and he’s foolish. But I didn’t see the young men you sent.

26“The Lord has kept you from spilling innocent blood and from getting a victory by your own efforts. Now, sir, I solemnly swear, as the Lord and you live, may your enemies and those who are trying to harm you end up like Nabal.

27Here is a gift I am bringing to you. May it be given to the young men who are in your service.

28Please forgive my offense. The Lord will certainly give you, sir, a lasting dynasty, because you are fighting the Lord’s battles. May evil never be found in you as long as you live.

29Even though someone pursued you and sought your life, your life is wrapped in the bundle of life which comes from the Lord your God. But he will dispose of the lives of your enemies like stones thrown from a sling.

30When the Lord does all the good he promised and makes you ruler of Israel,

31you shouldn’t have a troubled conscience because you spilled blood for no good reason and claimed your own victory. When the Lord has given you success, remember me.”

32David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me.

33May your good judgment be blessed. Also, may you be blessed for keeping me from slaughtering people today and from getting a victory by my own efforts.

34But I solemnly swear—as the Lord God of Israel, who has kept me from harming you, lives—if you hadn’t come to meet me quickly, Nabal certainly wouldn’t have had one of his men left at dawn.”

35Then David accepted what she brought him and told her, “Go home in peace. I’ve listened to what you’ve said and granted your request.”

36When Abigail came to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his home. It was like a king’s banquet. He was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything until dawn.

37But in the morning, when the effects of the wine had worn off, his wife told him what had happened. Nabal’s heart failed, and he could not move.