1 Samuel 18–23

Saul Fears David

18When David finished talking with Saul, Jonathan felt very close to David. He loved David as much as he loved himself. ²Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him go home to his father’s house. ³Jonathan made an agreement with David, because he loved David as much as himself. ⁴He took off his coat and gave it to David, along with his armor, including his sword, bow, and belt.

⁵Saul sent David to fight in different battles, and David was very successful. Then Saul put David over the soldiers, which pleased Saul’s officers and all the other people.

⁶After David had killed the Philistine, he and the men returned home. Women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They sang songs of joy, danced, and played tambourines and stringed instruments. ⁷As they played, they sang,

“Saul has killed thousands of his enemies,

but David has killed tens of thousands.”

⁸The women’s song upset Saul, and he became very angry. He thought, “The women say David has killed tens of thousands, but they say I have killed only thousands. The only thing left for him to have is the kingdom!” ⁹So Saul watched David closely from then on, because he was jealous.

¹⁰The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in his house. David was playing the harp as he usually did, but Saul had a spear in his hand. ¹¹He threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from him twice.

¹²The Lord was with David but had left Saul. So Saul was afraid of David. ¹³He sent David away and made him commander of a thousand soldiers. So David led them in battle. ¹⁴He had great success in everything he did because the Lord was with him. ¹⁵When Saul saw that David was very successful, he feared David even more. ¹⁶But all the people of Israel and Judah loved David because he led them well in battle.

Saul’s Daughter Marries David

¹⁷Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will let you marry her. All I ask is that you remain brave and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul thought, “I won’t have to kill David. The Philistines will do that.”

¹⁸But David answered Saul, saying, “Who am I? My family is not important enough for me to become the king’s son-in-law.” ¹⁹So, when the time came for Saul’s daughter Merab to marry David, Saul gave her instead to Adriel of Meholah.

²⁰Now Saul’s other daughter, Michal, loved David. When they told Saul, he was pleased. ²¹He thought, “I will let her marry David. Then she will be a trap for him, and the Philistines will defeat him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You may become my son-in-law.”

²²And Saul ordered his servants to talk with David in private and say, “Look, the king likes you. His servants love you. You should be his son-in-law.”

²³Saul’s servants said these words to David, but David answered, “Do you think it is easy to become the king’s son-in-law? I am poor and unimportant.”

²⁴When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, ²⁵Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king doesn’t want money for the bride. All he wants is a hundred Philistine foreskins to get even with his enemies.’ ” Saul planned to let the Philistines kill David.

²⁶When Saul’s servants told this to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. ²⁷So he and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. David brought all their foreskins to Saul so he could be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. ²⁸Saul saw that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David. ²⁹So he grew even more afraid of David, and he was David’s enemy all his life.

³⁰The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites, but every time, David was more skillful than Saul’s officers. So he became famous.

Saul Tries to Kill David

19Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan liked David very much. ²So he warned David, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Watch out in the morning. Hide in a secret place. ³I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are hiding, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll let you know what I find out.”

⁴When Jonathan talked to Saul his father, he said good things about David. Jonathan said, “The king should do no wrong to your servant David since he has done nothing wrong to you. What he has done has helped you greatly. ⁵David risked his life when he killed Goliath the Philistine, and the Lord won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and were happy. Why would you do wrong against David? He’s innocent. There’s no reason to kill him!”

⁶Saul listened to Jonathan and then made this promise: “As surely as the Lord lives, David won’t be put to death.”

⁷So Jonathan called to David and told him everything that had been said. He brought David to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.

⁸When war broke out again, David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them, and they ran away from him.

⁹But once again an evil spirit from the Lord rushed upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing the harp. ¹⁰Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David jumped out of the way. So Saul’s spear went into the wall, and David ran away that night.

¹¹Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, saying, “Tonight you must run for your life. If you don’t, you will be dead in the morning.” ¹²So she let David down out of a window, and he ran away and escaped. ¹³Then Michal took an idol, laid it on the bed, covered it with clothes, and put goats’ hair at its head.

¹⁴Saul sent messengers to take David prisoner, but Michal said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵Saul sent them back to see David, saying, “Bring him to me on his bed so I can kill him.”

¹⁶When the messengers entered David’s house, they found just an idol on the bed with goats’ hair on its head.

¹⁷Saul said to Michal, “Why did you trick me this way? You let my enemy go so he could run away!”

Michal answered Saul, “David told me if I did not help him escape, he would kill me.”

¹⁸After David had escaped from Saul, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. ¹⁹Saul heard that David was in Naioth at Ramah. ²⁰So he sent messengers to capture him. But they met a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there leading them. So the Spirit of God entered Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.

²¹When Saul heard the news, he sent more messengers, but they also prophesied. Then he sent messengers a third time, but they also prophesied. ²²Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah, to the well at Secu. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

The people answered, “In Naioth at Ramah.”

²³When Saul went to Naioth at Ramah, the Spirit of God also rushed upon him. And he walked on, prophesying until he came to Naioth at Ramah. ²⁴He took off his robes and prophesied in front of Samuel. He lay that way all day and all night. That is why people ask, “Is even Saul one of the prophets?”

Jonathan Helps David

20Then David ran away from Naioth in Ramah. He went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How did I sin against your father? Why is he trying to kill me?”

²Jonathan answered, “No! You won’t die! See, my father doesn’t do anything great or small without first telling me. Why would he keep this from me? It’s not true!”

³But David took an oath, saying, “Your father knows very well that you like me. He says to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know about it, or he will tell David.’ As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I am only a step away from death!”

⁴Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do anything you want me to do.”

⁵So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival. I am supposed to eat with the king, but let me hide in the field until the third evening. ⁶If your father notices I am gone, tell him, ‘David begged me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem. Every year at this time his family group offers a sacrifice.’ ⁷If your father says, ‘Fine,’ I am safe. But if he becomes angry, you will know that he wants to hurt me. ⁸Jonathan, be loyal to me, your servant. You have made an agreement with me before the Lord. If I am guilty, you may kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

⁹Jonathan answered, “No, never! If I learn that my father plans to hurt you, I will warn you!”

¹⁰David asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you unkindly?”

¹¹Then Jonathan said, “Come, let’s go out into the field.” So the two of them went out into the field.

¹²Jonathan said to David, “I promise this before the Lord, the God of Israel: At this same time the day after tomorrow, I will find out how my father feels. If he feels good toward you, I will send word to you and let you know. ¹³But if my father plans to hurt you, I will let you know and send you away safely. May the Lord punish me terribly if I don’t do this. And may the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. ¹⁴But show me the kindness of the Lord as long as I live so that I may not die. ¹⁵You must never stop showing your kindness to my family, even when the Lord has destroyed all your enemies from the earth.”

¹⁶So Jonathan made an agreement with David. He said, “May the Lord hold David’s enemies responsible.” ¹⁷And Jonathan asked David to repeat his promise of love for him, because he loved David as much as he loved himself.

¹⁸Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. Your seat will be empty, so my father will miss you. ¹⁹On the third day go to the place where you hid when this trouble began. Wait by the rock Ezel. ²⁰On the third day I will shoot three arrows to the side of the rock as if I am shooting at a target. ²¹Then I will send a boy to find the arrows. If I say to him, ‘The arrows are near you; bring them here,’ you may come out of hiding.…