¹³ And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, ^(A)you shall not see my face unless you first bring ^(B)Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.”

³ But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your ^(A)brother is with you.’

²⁹ And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

²⁰ When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ And Abner said to David, “I will arise and go and ^(A)will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may ^(B)reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

²² Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. ²³ When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go, and he has gone in peace.”

^11 (A)Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ^12 (B)So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. ¹³ Michal took ^(C)an image^[a] and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. ¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” ¹⁵ Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ And when the messengers came in, behold, ^(D)the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head. ¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. ^(E)Why should I kill you?’”

²⁰ Now ^(A)Saul's daughter Michal ^(B)loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may ^(C)be a snare for him ^(D)and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,^{[a] (E)}“You shall now be my son-in-law.” ²² And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’” ²³ And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, ^(F)“Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” ²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no ^(G)bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(H)that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” ^(I)Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. ^(J)Before the time had expired, ²⁷ David arose and went, ^(K)along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. ^(L)And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. ²⁸ But when Saul saw and knew that ^(M)the Lord was with David, ^(N)and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him,

²⁶ we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²³ Then you said to your servants, ^(A)‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’