1 Samuel 18–23

DAVID’S SUCCESS

18When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan was bound to David in close friendship,^D and loved him as much as he loved himself.^{v 2}Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father’s house.

³Jonathan made a covenant with David^w because he loved him as much as himself. ⁴Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David,^x along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

⁵David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the fighting men, which pleased all the people and Saul’s servants as well.

⁶As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul,^a singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments. ⁷As they danced, the women sang:

Saul has killed his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands.^b

⁸Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?”^{c 9}So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

SAUL ATTEMPTS TO KILL DAVID

¹⁰The next day an evil spirit sent from God came powerfully on Saul,^d and he began to rave^E inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual,^e but Saul was holding a spear,^{f 11}and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.”^g But David got away from him twice.

¹²Saul was afraid of David,^h because the Lord was with Davidⁱ but had left Saul.^{j 13}Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops^{k 14}and continued to be successful in all his activities because the Lord was with him.^{l 15}When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him. ¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David^m because he was leading their troops. ¹⁷Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wifeⁿ if you will be a warrior for me and fight the Lord’s battles.”^o But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”^p

¹⁸Then David responded, “Who am I,^q and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.^r

DAVID’S MARRIAGE TO MICHAL

²⁰Now Saul’s daughter Michal^s loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him. ²¹“I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.”^t So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”^u

²²Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David in private and tell him, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³Saul’s servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor commoner.”^v

²⁴The servants reported back to Saul, “These are the words David spoke.”

²⁵Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price^w except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’ ”^x Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.^y

²⁶When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, ²⁷David and his men went out and killed two hundred^A Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.^{z 28}Saul realized^B that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, ²⁹and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.

³⁰Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight,^aa David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers.^ab So his name became well known.

DAVID DELIVERED FROM SAUL

19Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David.^ac But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much,^{ad 2}so he told him, “My father, Saul, intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there. ³I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and talk to him about you. When I see what he says, I’ll tell you.”^ae

⁴Jonathan spoke well of David to his father, Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David.^af He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you. ⁵He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine,^a and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel.^b You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”^c

⁶Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.” ⁷So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he did before.^d

⁸When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such great force that they fled from him.

⁹Now an evil spirit sent from the Lord^e came on Saul as he was sitting in his palace holding a spear.^f David was playing the lyre,^{g 10}and Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear.^h As the spear struck the wall, David eluded Saul, ran away, and escaped that night. ¹¹Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning.ⁱ But his wife Michal^j warned David, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!” ¹²So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped.^{k 13}Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. ¹⁴When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”^l

¹⁵Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.” ¹⁶When the agents arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head.

¹⁷Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!”

She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”

¹⁸So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah^m and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel left and stayed at Naioth.ⁿ

¹⁹When it was reported to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰he sent agents to seize David.^o However, when they saw the group of prophets prophesying^p with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s agents, and they also started prophesying. ²¹When they reported to Saul, he sent other agents, and they also began prophesying.^q So Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents, and even they began prophesying. ²²Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“At Naioth in Ramah,” someone said.

²³So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God also came on him,^r and as he walked along, he prophesied until he entered Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴Saul then removed his clothes and also prophesied before Samuel; he collapsed and lay naked^s all that day and all that night. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”^t

JONATHAN PROTECTS DAVID

20David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done?^u What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”

²Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”

³But David said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor with you. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’ ” David also swore, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”^v

⁴Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

⁵So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon,^w and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king.^x Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the countryside for the next two nights.^{Ay 6}If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to go quickly to his hometown, Bethlehem,^z for an annual sacrifice^aa there involving the whole clan.’ ⁷If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions. ⁸Deal kindly with^B your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the Lord.^ab If I have done anything wrong,^ac then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”

⁹“No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

¹⁰So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹He answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the countryside.” So both of them went out to the countryside. ¹²“By the Lord, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you? ¹³If my father intends to bring evil on you, may the Lord punish Jonathan and do so severely^a if I do not tell you and send you away so you may leave safely. May the Lord be with you,^b just as he was with my father. ¹⁴If I continue to live, show me kindness from the Lord, but if I die, ¹⁵don’t ever withdraw your kindness from my household—not even when the Lord cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”^{c 16}Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David,^d saying, “May the Lord hold…