¹¹ and he hurled it, saying to himself,^(A) “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded^(B) him twice.^(C)

¹⁷ Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter^(A) Merab. I will give her to you in marriage;^(B) only serve me bravely and fight the battles^(C) of the Lord.” For Saul said to himself,^(D) “I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!”

²¹ “I will give her to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snare^(A) to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.”

Saul Tries to Kill David

19 Saul told his son Jonathan^(A) and all the attendants to kill^(B) David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David

¹⁰ Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded^(A) him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.

¹¹ Saul sent men to David’s house to watch^(B) it and to kill him in the morning.^(C) But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.”

¹⁵ Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.”

²⁰ so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets^(A) prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on^(B) Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.^{(C) 21} Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. ²² Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said.

¹⁵ While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that^[a] Saul had come out to take his life.^(A)

²⁶ Saul^(A) was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, ²⁷ a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.” ²⁸ Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth.^{[a] 29} And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds^(B) of En Gedi.^[b](C)