1 Samuel 18

₁After David had talked to Saul, Jonathan and David became friends. Jonathan loved David as much as Jonathan loved himself. ₂Saul said David must always stay with him, and he must not go back to his father's house. ₃Jonathan and David made an agreement because Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. ₄Jonathan took off his cloak and his other clothes and he gave them to David. He also gave his sword and his bow_and_arrow and his belt. ₅David went to all the places where Saul sent him and he succeeded in everything he did. Saul chose him to be an officer in his army. Everyone was happy because of that, and so were Saul's other officers.

₆After David had defeated the Philistine, Saul and his men came back home and then something happened. The women came from all the towns of Israel to King Saul. They sang happy songs and danced and made music with tambourines and lyres. ₇The women were happy. They sang and said:

₈Saul became very angry, because he did not like that. He said: ‘They say David has killed more than 10 thousand men but I have killed only one thousand. If they keep on talking like this, he will become king in my place.’

₉From that day Saul watched David to see if he was doing anything wrong. ₁₀The next morning an evil_spirit came into Saul. Saul became excited while David was playing the lyre as he often did. Saul had his spear in his hand ₁₁and he threw his spear at David. He wanted to kill David and nail him to the wall with his spear. He threw his spear at David twice, but each time David moved away quickly. ₁₂Saul became afraid of David because the Lord was with David and He was not with Saul anymore. ₁₃Then Saul sent David away from him. He made David an officer over 1 000 men and David led the men when they went to war and when they came back again. ₁₄David succeeded in everything that he did because the Lord was with him. ₁₅Saul saw that David succeeded every time he did something and he became more afraid of David. ₁₆But all the men of Israel and Judah liked David because he was a good leader.

₁₇Saul said to David: ‘Here is my oldest daughter, Merab. I give her to you to be your wife. But I want you to be a brave man. You must fight the wars of the Lord.’ Saul thought: ‘I will not kill David. The Philistines will kill him.’

₁₈David said to Saul: ‘My family and I are not important people. I can not be the king's son-in-law.’ ₁₉And when the time came for Merab to marry David, Saul let her marry another man, Adriel of Meholah.

₂₀But Saul's other daughter, Michal, was in love with David and when they told Saul about this, it made him happy. ₂₁He said: ‘I will give her to David, but I will do it in such a way that the Philistines can kill him.’ For the 2nd time Saul said David could be his son-in-law. ₂₂Saul told his officials to talk to David where other people could not see them, and to tell David that the king liked him and that all the officials of the king also liked him. That was why he should become the king's son-in-law. ₂₃When Saul's servants said this to David, David said: ‘I am a poor man, and I am not important. Do you think someone like me can become the king's son-in-law? No.’

₂₄Saul's officials told Saul what David had said, ₂₅and Saul said they must tell David: ‘There is only one price for the bride that the king wants. He wants the foreskins of 100 Philistines, because he wants to punish his enemies.’

Saul was hoping that the Philistines would kill David. ₂₆The officials told David what the king had said and David agreed because he wanted to become the king's son-in-law. David did not wait long. ₂₇He and his men went and they killed 200 Philistines. He brought their foreskins and gave them to the king so that he could become the king's son-in-law. Saul then gave his daughter, Michal, to marry David.

₂₈Saul saw and he knew that the Lord was with David. Saul also saw that his daughter, Michal, loved David very much. ₂₉That is why Saul was even more afraid of David and he was David's enemy until he died. ₃₀The rulers of the Philistines came to go to war many times, but each time David defeated them. David defeated them more often than all the other officers of Saul. Everyone respected David.