A   And ^note Samuel dyed, and all the Israelites geathered togeather and lamented hym, and buryed hym in his owne house at Rama.

And Dauid arose, and gat hym to þe; wildernesse of Pharan. And there was a man in Maon whose possession was in Carmel, and the man was excedyng myghtie, and had thre thous&abar;d shepe ∧ a thous&abar;d gootes. And he was sheryng his shepe in Carmell.

The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wyfe was Abigail, and she was a woman of a singuler wisdome and

Dauid bewtifull. But the man was churlyshe, &abar;d of shrewde condicions, and was of the kynred of Caleb. And Dauid heard in the wildernesse, þt; Nabal dyd shere hys shepe. And Dauid sent out ten young men, and sayde vnto them: get you vp to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and grete hym in my name. B   And thus shal ye saye: peace be to þe;, peace be to thyne house, ∧ peace be vnto all that thou hast. Beholde, I haue heard saye, þt; þu; hast sherers. Now, thy sheperdes were with vs (in the wildernesse,) and we dyd th&ebar; no spyte, nether was there ought (in the flocke) myssing vnto them, all the whyle they were in Carmel: aske thy laddes, ∧ they will shew the. Wherfore let these young men fynde fauore in thine eyes (for we come in a good ceason) and ^note geue I praye the whatsoeuer commeth to thyne hande, vnto thy serua&ubar;tes, and to thy sonne Dauid.

And whan Dauids yo&ubar;gmen came, they tolde Nabal all those wordes in þe; name of Dauid, ∧ th&ebar; helde theyr peace. And Nabal answered Dauids serua&ubar;tes, ∧ sayde: what is Dauid? ∧ what is the s&obar;ne of Isai? there is plentye of seruauntes now a dayes, that breake awaye euery man from his master. Shal I th&ebar; take my breed, my water ∧ my flesshe, þt; I haue kylled for my sherers, ∧ geue it vnto m&ebar; wh&obar; I wote not wh&ebar;ce they be? C   And so Dauids seruauntes turned their waye, and went agayne, and came and told him all those say&ibar;ges. And Dauid sayd vnto hys men: gyrde euery man hys swerde aboute him. And they gyrded euery m&abar; his swerde aboute him, ∧ Dauid was gyrded with his swerde. And there folowed Dauid vpon a foure hundred men, and two hundred abode by the stuffe. But one of the laddes tolde Abigail Nabals wyfe, saying: Beholde, Dauid sent mess&ebar;gers vnto oure master out of the wildernesse to salute him ∧ he rayled on th&ebar;. And yet the men are very good vnto vs, ∧ dyd vs no displeasure, nether missed we any thing, as long as we were conuersant with th&ebar;, when we were in the feldes. They were a wall of defence vnto vs both by nyght ∧ daye, all the whyle we were with th&ebar; keping shepe. Now therfore, take hede, and se what þu; hast to do, for there is an occasion of euell geuen agaynst oure master and all his housholde, seyng: he is as a sonne of beliall vngracious to speake to. D   Then Abigail made hast, ∧ toke two h&ubar;dred loues, ∧ two bottelles of wine, and fyue shepe readye dressed, and fyue measures of parched corne, and an hundred frayles of reasyngs, and two hundred topnettes of fygges, and laded th&ebar; on asses, ∧ sayde vnto her young m&ebar;: go ye before me. Beholde, I come after you. But she tolde her husb&abar;d Naball nothing therof. And as she Abigail rode on her asse she came preuely downe þe; syde of the hyll, ∧ beholde, Dauid and hys m&ebar; came downe agaynst her, ∧ she met th&ebar;.

And Dauid sayde: in vayne haue I kept all that this felow hath in þe; wildernesse: so that nought was myssed of all þt; pertayned vnto hym. And he hath quite me euell for good. So and so do God vnto the enemyes of dauid, yf I leaue of all that pertayne to him, by the dawnyng of the daye, any th&ibar;g &rhand; that pisseth agaynst the walle.

And when Abigail saw Dauid, she hasted ∧ lyghted of her asse, and fell before Dauid on her face, and bowed her self to þe; ground and fell at his fete, and sayde: Let this vnhappie deade be counted myne, my Lorde, ∧ let thine handmayde speake in thine audience, and heare the wordes of thy handemayde. Let not my Lorde (the kyng) regard this vnthriftye m&abar; Naball: for as his name is, so is he &rhand; Nabal is his name, ∧ follie is &wt; h&ibar;. But I thine h&abar;dmayd saw not þe; young men of my Lorde wh&obar; þu; sendedst.

Now therfore my Lorde, as sure as þe; lord lyueth, ∧ as thy soule lyueth, þe; Lorde hath withholden the fr&obar; c&obar;ming to shede bloud, ∧ withdraw þu; thine hand fr&obar; bloude sheade Now, I praye God, þt; thine enemyes ∧ they þt; entende to do my Lorde euel, may be as Nabal. And now this is the &rhand; blessyng which thyne h&abar;d mayde hath brought vnto my Lord: ∧ lett it be geuen vnto þe; yo&ubar;g men, that folow my Lorde. Forgeue the trespace of thine handmayde, for the Lord will make my Lorde a sure house, because my Lord fyghteth þe; batayles of þe; Lorde, and there coulde none euel be founde in the in all thy dayes. And yf any man ryse to persecute the, ∧ to seke thy soule, þe; soule of my Lorde shall be bound as &rhand; in þe; b&obar;dell of þe; lyuing &wt; þe; Lord thy God. And þe; soules of thy enemyes shal God cast out, euen as out of the mydle of a slyng. And when þe; Lord shall haue done to my Lord all the good þt; he hath promised þe;, ∧ shall haue made the ruler ouer Israel: then shall it be no decaye vnto the, ner discourage of herte vnto my Lorde, þt; thou hast not shedde bloud causelesse, ner aduenged thy selfe.

But when the Lord shall haue dealt well with my Lorde, th&ebar; thynck on thyne handmayde. F   And Dauid sayd to Abigail: blessed be the Lorde God of Israel, which sent the this daye to mete me. Blessed is thy say&ebar;g, ∧ blessed art thou, which hast kept me thys daye from coming to shede bloud, and from aduengyng my self with myne awne hand. For in very deade, as sure as þe; Lord God of Israel lyueth, which hath kept me backe from hurtyng the, excepte thou haddest hasted and met me, thinkest þu;, there had bene left vnto Nabal by the dawnyng of the

Saul and Dauid daye, a pisser agaynst the wall? And so Dauid receaued of her h&abar;d, that which she had brought him ∧ sayd to her: go vp in peace to thyne house. Beholde, I haue herde thy voyce, and haue accepted thy persone.

And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold, he held a feast in his house, lyke the feest of a kyng, ∧ Nabals herte was mery within h&ibar;, for he was very droncke. Wherfore she tolde him nothing, nether lytle nor moare, vntill þe; morow daye. But in þe; mornyng, wh&ebar; the wine was gone out of Naball, hys wife tolde him these wordes, G   and his herte dyed within him, and he became as a stone ∧ vpon a ten dayes after, the Lorde smote Nabal, þt; he dyed. And when Dauid heard that Nabal was deed, he sayde: Blessed be the Lorde that hath iudged the cause of my rebuke of the h&abar;d of Nabal, and hath kept his seruaunt from euell, and hath rec&obar;pensed the wickednesse of Nabal vp&obar; his awne heed. And Dauid sent to comen &wt; Abigail: to thyn t&ebar;t to take her to his wife. And when the seruauntes of Dauid were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake vnto her saying: Dauid sent vs vnto the, to take þe; to his wife. And she arose, ∧ bowed her self on her face to the erth, and sayde: Beholde let thy handmayde be a seruaunt, to washe the fete of the seruauntes of my Lord. And Abigail hasted, and arose, and gat her vp vpon an Asse, &wt; fyue damoselles of hers þt; went at her fete, and she went after þe; messengers of Dauid, and became hys wife. Dauid also toke Ahinoam of Iezrahel, ∧ they were both his wiues. But Saul gaue ^note Michol hys daughter Dauids wyfe to phalti þe; s&obar;ne of Lais which was of Gall&ibar;.

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