1 Samuel
Chapter 18
1 When he finished talking to Saul, Jonathan felt very close to David and loved him as he loved himself.
2 Saul kept him that day and didn’t let him return to his father’s house anymore.
3 Jonathan and David made a promise, because Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself.
4 Jonathan took off his robe, gave it to David, along with his clothes, sword, bow, and belt.
5 David went wherever Saul sent him and acted wisely. Saul put him in charge of the soldiers, and all the people and Saul’s helpers liked him.
6 When they arrived, as David came back from killing the Philistine, the women from all the Israeli cities came out to greet King Saul. They were singing, dancing, and playing tambourines and musical instruments with happiness.
7 The women talked to each other as they celebrated and said, “Saul has killed thousands, and David has killed ten thousands.”
8 Saul was very angry because he didn’t like what was said; he thought, “They credit David with tens of thousands, but me with only thousands. What else can he get but the kingdom?”
9 From that day on, Saul watched David closely.
10 The next day, an evil spirit from God came over Saul, and he started to prophesy in the house. David played his harp as he usually did, with Saul holding a spear in his hand.
11 Saul threw the spear because he thought, “I will hit David and pin him to the wall.” But David dodged it twice.
12 Saul feared David because God was with David and had left Saul.
13 So Saul sent him away and put him in charge of a thousand men; he led the people in their movements.
14 David acted wisely in everything he did, and God was with him.
15 So when Saul noticed that he acted very smartly, he became scared of him.
16 All of Israel and Judah loved David because he led them and returned safely.
17 Saul said to David, “Look at my older daughter Merab. I will let you marry her. Just be brave for me and fight God’s battles.” Saul thought, “I won’t hurt him myself, but let the Philistines hurt him.”
18 David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”
19 At the time Merab, Saul’s daughter, was supposed to marry David, she was married to Adriel the Meholathite instead.
20 Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David; when Saul heard, it made him happy.
21 Saul said, “I will let him marry her so she can trap him, and so the Philistines can fight him.” So Saul told David, “Today you will become my son-in-law by marrying one of my daughters.”
22 Saul told his servants, “Talk to David in secret and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and all his servants love you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.’”
23 Saul’s servants told David these things. David asked, “Do you think it’s easy to become the king’s son-in-law, when I am a poor and little-valued man?”
24 Saul’s servants told him, “David spoke in this way.”
25 Saul said, “Tell David this: The king doesn’t want a dowry, just one hundred Philistine foreskins to get revenge on his enemies.” But Saul planned to have the Philistines kill David.
26 When his servants told David this, David was happy to become the king’s son-in-law, and the time was not yet over.
27 So David got up and took his men, and they killed two hundred Philistine men; David took their foreskins and presented the full number to the king, so he could become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.
28 Saul saw and understood that God was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him.
29 Saul became even more scared of David and remained his enemy all the time.
30 The Philistine leaders went out, and after they did, David acted more wisely than all of Saul’s servants, so his reputation grew greatly.