7. So Jonathan called David and told him everything; then he took him to Saul, and David served the king as he had before.
8. War with the Philistines broke out again. David attacked them and defeated them so thoroughly that they fled.
9. One day an evil spirit from the Lord took control of Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was there, playing his harp.
10. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David dodged, and the spear stuck in the wall. David ran away and escaped.
11. That same night Saul sent some men to watch David's house and kill him the next morning. Michal, David's wife, warned him, “If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you will be dead.”
12. She let him down from a window, and he ran away and escaped.
13. Then she took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a pillow made of goats'-hair at its head, and put a cover over it.
14. When Saul's men came to get David, Michal told them that he was ill.
15. But Saul sent them back to see David for themselves. He ordered them, “Carry him here in his bed, and I will kill him.”
16. They went inside and found the household idol in the bed and the goats'-hair pillow at its head.
17. Saul asked Michal, “Why have you tricked me like this and let my enemy escape?”She answered, “He said he would kill me if I didn't help him to escape.”
18. David escaped and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.
19. Saul was told that David was in Naioth in Ramah,
20. so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the Spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout.
21. When Saul heard of this, he sent more messengers, and they also began to dance and shout. He sent messengers the third time, and the same thing happened to them.
22. Then he himself started out for Ramah. When he came to the large well in Secu, he asked where Samuel and David were and was told that they were at Naioth.