23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.a 24 She 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. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Foolc,d and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshede and from avengingf yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.g 27 And let this gift,h which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.

28 “Please forgivei your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lastingj dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles,k and no wrongdoingl will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even 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 hurln away as from the pocket of a sling.o 30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him rulerp over Israel, 31 my 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, rememberq your servant.”r