¹² Make the price for the bride^(A) and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”

Social Responsibility

¹⁶ “If a man seduces a virgin^(A) who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price,^(B) and she shall be his wife. ¹⁷ If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.

¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves^(A) of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁴ Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, “Give me my wife Michal,^(A) whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

²⁵ Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price^(A) for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge^(B) on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan^(C) was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.

²⁶ When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, ²⁷ David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal^(D) in marriage.