Verse 4

If the anger of a ruler rises against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Prov 25:15 : 15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.
  • Eccl 8:3 : 3 Do not be quick to leave the king’s presence, and do not insist on an evil matter, for the king will do whatever he pleases.
  • 1 Sam 25:24-44 : 24 She fell at his feet and said, "My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Please, my lord, pay no attention to this worthless man Nabal. He is exactly what his name suggests—his name means ‘fool,’ and folly goes with him. But I, your servant, did not see the men my lord sent. 26 Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, the Lord has kept you from shedding blood and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and those intent on harming my lord be as foolish as Nabal. 27 Now let this gift that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the offense of your servant, for the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because my lord fights the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone pursues you to take your life, the life of my lord will be securely bound in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord all the good things he promised and has appointed you ruler 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 has brought my lord success, remember your servant. 32 David said to Abigail, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. 33 Blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not hurried to come to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning. 35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought to him and said, 'Go home in peace. See, I have listened to your words and granted your request.' 36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk, so she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him, and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. 39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, 'Blessed be the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for insulting me, and has kept me, his servant, from wrongdoing. The Lord has brought Nabal’s wickedness upon his own head.' Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. 40 David’s servants went to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, 'David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.' 41 Abigail got up, bowed with her face to the ground, and said, 'Here is your servant, ready to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.' 42 Abigail quickly got on a donkey, accompanied by five of her young women as attendants. She followed David’s messengers and became his wife. 43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both women became his wives. 44 Meanwhile, Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti, son of Laish, who was from Gallim.