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¹ And Samuel dyed, and all Israel gathered them selues together, mourned for him, & buried him in his house at Ramath. As for Dauid, he rose, and wente downe into the wyldernesse of Paran.

² And there was a man at Maon, and his possession at Carmel, and the man was of greate power, and had thre thousande shepe, and a thousande goates. And it fortuned that he clypped his shepe at Carmel,³ and his name was Nabal, but his wyues name was Abigail, and she was a woman of good vnderstondinge, & bewtyfull of face. But the man was harde, and wicked in his doynges, and was one of Caleb.⁴ Now whan Dauid herde in the wyldernes yt Nabal clypped his shepe,⁵ he sent out ten yonge men, & saide vnto them: Go vp vnto Carmel, & whan ye come to Nabal, salute him frendly on my behalfe,⁶ & saye: Good lucke, peace be wt the & thine house, & with all yt thou hast.⁷ haue herde saye that thou hast shepe clyppers. Now yi shepherdes whom thou hast, haue bene with vs, we haue done them no dishonoure, and they wated nothinge of their nombre, as longe as they were at Carmel:⁸ Axe thy yonge men, they shal tell the, and let thy yonge men fynde fauoure in yi sighte: for we are come in a good daye, geue thy seruauntes & thy sonne Dauid what thy hande fyndeth.⁹ And wha Dauids yonge men came, and spake all these wordes on Dauids behalfe vnto Nabal, they lefte of.¹⁰ But Nabal answered Dauids seruauntes, & sayde: What is he yt Dauid? & who is the sonne of Isai? There are many seruauntes now yt runne awaye from their masters.¹¹ Shulde I take my bred, water and flesh, that I haue slayne for my clyppers, & geue it vnto me whom I knowe not whence they are?

¹² The Dauids yonge me turned their waye agayne. And whan they came agayne vnto him, they tolde him all these wordes.¹³ The sayde Dauid vnto his men: Euery man gyrde his swerde aboute him. And euery one gyrde his swerde aboute him. And Dauid gyrde his swerde aboute him also, and there wete vp after him vpon a foure hundreth men, but two hundreth remayned wt the stuffe.¹⁴ Neuertheles Abigail Nabals wife tolde one of hir yonge men, and sayde: Beholde, Dauid sent messaungers out of the wyldernes to blesse oure lorde, Notwithstondinge he was fearce vpo them,¹⁵ and yet haue they bene very profitable men vnto vs, and haue done vs no dishonoure, and we wanted none of the nombre as loge as we walked with them, whan we were in the felde:¹⁶ but they haue bene oure wall daye and nighte, as longe as we kepte the shepe by them.¹⁷ Take hede now therfore, and loke well what thou doest, for there is surely a mysfortune at hande agaynst oure lorde, & agaynst all his house. And he is a man of Belial, to whom no man darre saye eny thinge.

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haist, and toke two hundred loaues of bred, and two botels of wyne, and fyue shepe ready dighte, and fyue measures of firmentye, and an hundreth frayles of rasens, and two hundreth frayles of fygges, & layed them vpo asses,¹⁹ and sayde to hir yonge men: Go ye youre waye before me, beholde, I wyl come after. And she tolde Nabal hir housbade nothinge therof.²⁰ And as she rode vpo the asse, and wente downe in the shadowe of ye hill, beholde, Dauid & his me met hir downe, so that she came vpon them.²¹ But Dauid sayde: Wel, all that this man had in ye wyldernes, haue I kepte for naughte, so that there wanted nothinge of all that he had, and he rewardeth me euell for good.²² God do this and yet more vnto the enemies of Dauid, yf vntyll tomorow in the mornynge I leaue this man (of all that he hath) so moch as one that maketh water agaynst ye wall.²³ Now whan Abigail sawe Dauid, she lighte downe from the asse in all the haist, and fell vpo hir face before Dauid, and worshiped him to the grounde,²⁴ and fell at his fete, and sayde: Oh my lorde, let this trespace be myne, and let thy handmayde speake before thine eares, and heare the wordes of thy handmayden:²⁵ Let not my lorde set his hert agaynst this Nabal the man of Belial, for he is a foole, acordinge as his name is called: his name is foole, and foolishnes is with him. As for me thy handmayde, I sawe not my lordes yonge men, whom thou dyddest sende.²⁶ But now my lorde, as truly as the LORDE lyueth, and as truly as thy soule lyueth, the LORDE hath kepte the backe, yt thou shuldest not come agaynst bloude, and he hath delyuered thine hande. Thine enemyes be now as Nabal, and so be they that wolde my lorde euell.²⁷ Here is ye blessynge, yt thy handmayde hath brought my lorde, take it, and geue it vnto the yonge men, that walke vnder my lorde.²⁸ For a sure house shal ye LORDE make my lorde, which fighteth the fighte of the LORDE, and no euell shall be founde in the all thy life longe.²⁹ And yf eny man ryse vp to persecute ye, and to laye wayte for thy soule, then shal the soule of my lorde be bounde in the bundell of ye lyuynge, euen with the LORDE thy God. But ye soule of thine enemies shalbe turned backe wt the slynge.³⁰ Whan the LORDE therfore doth all this good for my lorde (which he hath promysed the) and commaundeth ye to be his Duke ouer Israel,³¹ then shal it be no stomblinge blocke ner occasiion of fallynge vnto my lordes hert, that thou hast not shed bloude without a cause, and auenged thy selfe, then shal ye LORDE do good vnto my lorde, and thou shalt thynke vpon thy handmayden.

³² Then saide Dauid vnto Abigail: Blessed be the LORDE God of Israel, which hath sent the to mete me this daye:³³ and blessed be thy speach, and blessed be thou, which hast kepte me backe this daye, that I am not come agaynst bloude, to auenge me with myne awne hande.³⁴ Verely (as truly as the LORDE the God of Israel lyueth, which hath hyndred me that I shulde do the no euell.) Yf thou haddest not met me in all the haist, Nabal shulde not haue had lefte him vntyll ye lighte mornynge, so moch as one that maketh water agaynst the wall.³⁵ So Dauid toke of hir hade what she had broughte him, and sayde vnto her: Go vp in peace vnto yi house: beholde, I haue herkened vnto yi voyce, and accepted thy personne.

³⁶ But whan Abigail came to Nabal, beholde, he had prepared a feast in his house like a kynges feast, and his hert was mery, for he was very dronken. And she tolde him nothinge, nether small ner greate vntyll ye cleare mornynge.³⁷ But whan it was daye, & the wyne was come from Nabal, his wife tolde him these thinges. Then was his hert deed in his body, so that he became euen as a stone:³⁸ and ouer ten dayes the LORDE smote him, so yt he dyed.³⁹ Whan Dauid herde that Nabal was deed, he sayde: Blessed be ye LORDE which hath auenged my rebuke on Nabal, and preserued his seruaunt from euell. And the LORDE hath rewarded Nabal that euell vpon his heade. And Dauid sent, and caused to talke with Abigail, yt he mighte take her to wife.⁴⁰ And whan Dauids seruauntes came to Abigail vnto Carmel, they spake vnto her, and saide: Dauid hath sent vs vnto the, that he maye take ye to wife.⁴¹ She rose vp, and worshipped vpon hir face vnto the earth, and sayde: beholde, here is thy handmayde, that she maie do seruyce vnto the seruauntes of my lorde,⁴² and to waßshe their fete. And Abigail made haist, and gat her vp, and rode vpo an asse, and fyue maydens that were vnder her, and wente after Dauids messaungers, and became his wife.⁴³ Dauid toke Ahinoam of Iesrael also, and they both became his wyues.⁴⁴ But Saul gaue Michol his doughter the wife of Dauid vnto Phalti ye sonne of Lais of Gallim.