¹⁰ But Jacob insisted, “No, if I have found favor with you, please accept this gift from me. And what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God!

⁴ And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.

¹⁰ “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.^[a]

² This is what the Lord says:

³² And Absalom replied, “Because I wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me see the king; if he finds me guilty of anything, then let him kill me.”

²⁸ Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but he never got to see the king.

²⁴ But the king gave this order: “Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my presence.” So Absalom did not see the king.

¹³ “All right,” David replied, “but I will not negotiate with you unless you bring back my wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come.”