¹¹ Saul sent messengers to watch David’s house and to kill him in the morning, but David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not do something to save your life tonight, by tomorrow you will be put to death.” ¹² So Michal let David down through the window. He took off, got away, and escaped. ¹³ Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed. She put something made of goat hair on its head and covered the statue with clothing. ¹⁴ When Saul sent messengers to capture David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵ So Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him to me on the bed, so I can kill him.” ¹⁶ When the messengers came in, they saw that the idol was in the bed with the goat hair on its head.

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?”

Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I have to kill you?’”