1 Samuel 18

Saul Resents David

1 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.2 Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his fathers house anymore.3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.5 So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Sauls servants.6 Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments.7 So the women sang as they danced, and said: Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?9 So Saul eyed David from that day forward.10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Sauls hand.11 And Saul cast the spear, for he said, I will pin David to the wall! But David escaped his presence twice.12 Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul.13 Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.14 And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.15 Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him.16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Michal

17 Then Saul said to David, Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the Lords battles. For Saul thought, Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.18 So David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life or my fathers family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?19 But it happened at the time when Merab, Sauls daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.20 Now Michal, Sauls daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.21 So Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, You shall be my son-in-law today.22 And Saul commanded his servants, Communicate with David secretly, and say, Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the kings son-in-law.23 So Sauls servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, Does it seem to you a light thing to be a kings son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, In this manner David spoke.25 Then Saul said, Thus you shall say to David: The king does not desire any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the kings enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.26 So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the kings son-in-law. Now the days had not expired;27 therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the kings son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.28 Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Sauls daughter, loved him;29 and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became Davids enemy continually.30 Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

1 SAMUEL 18

1 David and Saul finished talking, and soon David and Jonathant became best friends. Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself.

2 From that time on, Saul kept David in his service and would not let David go back to his own family.
3 Jonathan liked David so much that they promised to always be loyal friends.

4 Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes, t his sword, his bow and arrows, and his belt.

5 David was a success in everything that Saul sent him to do, and Saul made him a high officer in his army. That pleased everyone, including Saul's other officers.

Saul Becomes //David's Enemy

7 t They sang:
Saul has killed
a thousand enemies;
David has killed
ten thousand!
8 This song made Saul very angry, and he thought, “They are saying that David has killed ten times more enemies than I ever did. Next they will want to make him king.”

9 Saul never again trusted David.
10 The next day the [Lord] let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a crazy man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand.

11 Saul thought, “I'll pin David to the wall.” He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the [Lord] was helping David and was no longer helping him. 13 Saul put David in charge of 1,000 soldiers and sent him out to fight. 14 The [Lord] helped David, and he and his soldiers always won their battles. 15 This made Saul even more afraid of David.

16 But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal tot David, because he led the army in battle.

17 One day, Saul told David, “If you'll be brave and fight the [Lord]'s battles for me, I'll let you marry my oldest daughter Merab.” But Saul was really thinking, “I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me.”

18 David answered, “How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family.”

19 But when the time came for David to marry Saul's daughter Merab, Saul told her to marry Adriel from the town of Meholah.
20 Saul had another daughter. Her name was Michal, and Saul found out that she was in love with David. This made Saul happy,

21 and he thought, “I'll tell David he can marry Michal, but I'll set it up so that the Philistines will kill him.” He told David, “I'm going to give you a second chance to marry one of my daughters.”

22-23 Saul ordered his officials to speak to David in private, so they went to David and said, “Look, the king likes you, and all of his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you can marry his daughter Michal?”
“I'm not richt or famous enough to marry princess Michal!” David answered.
24 The officials went back to Saul and told him exactly what David had said. 25 Saul was hoping that the Philistines would kill David, and he told his officials to tell David, “The king doesn't want any silver or gold. He only wants to get even with his enemies. All you have to do is to bring back proof that you have killed 100 Philistines!”t

26 The officials told David, and David wanted to marry the princess.
King Saul had set a time limit, and before it ran out, 27 David and his men left and killed 200 Philistines. David brought back the proof that Saul had demanded and showed it to him, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. 28 King Saul knew that she loved David, t and he also realized that the [Lord] was helping David.

29 But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life.
30 The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers.