1 Samuel 18–23

Saul’s Growing Fear of David

18After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan^p became one in spirit with David, and he loved^q him as himself.^{r 2}From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. ³And Jonathan made a covenant^s with David because he loved him as himself. ⁴Jonathan took off the robe^t he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.^u

⁵Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful^v that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.^w This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well.

⁶When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing,^x with joyful songs and with timbrels^y and lyres. ⁷As they danced, they sang:^z

“Saul has slain his thousands,

and David his tens^a of thousands.”

⁸Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?^b” ⁹And from that time on Saul kept a close^c eye on David.

¹⁰The next day an evil^a spirit^d from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre,^e as he usually^f did. Saul had a spear^g in his hand ¹¹and he hurled it, saying to himself,^h “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eludedⁱ him twice.^j

¹²Saul was afraid^k of David, because the Lord^l was with^m David but had departed fromⁿ Saul. ¹³So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led^o the troops in their campaigns.^{p 14}In everything he did he had great success,^q because the Lord was with^r him. ¹⁵When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.^s

¹⁷Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter^t Merab. I will give her to you in marriage;^u only serve me bravely and fight the battles^v of the Lord.” For Saul said to himself,^w “I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!”

¹⁸But David said to Saul, “Who am I,^x and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king’s son-in-law?^y” ¹⁹So^b when the time came for Merab,^z Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.^a

²⁰Now Saul’s daughter Michal^b was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased.^{c 21}“I will give her to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snare^d to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.”

²²Then Saul ordered his attendants: “Speak to David privately and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.’ ”

²³They repeated these words to David. But David said, “Do you think it is a small matter to become the king’s son-in-law?^e I’m only a poor man and little known.”

²⁴When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, ²⁵Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price^f for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge^g on his enemies.’ ” Saul’s plan^h was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.

²⁶When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, ²⁷David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michalⁱ in marriage.

²⁸When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal^j loved David, ²⁹Saul became still more afraid^k of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.

³⁰The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success^l than the rest of Saul’s officers, and his name became well known.

Saul Tries to Kill David

19Saul told his son Jonathan^m and all the attendants to killⁿ David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David ²and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding^o and stay there. ³I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak^p to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

⁴Jonathan spoke^q well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong^r to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. ⁵He took his life^s in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory^t for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent^u man like David by killing him for no reason?”

⁶Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”

⁷So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.^v

⁸Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.

⁹But an evil^a spirit^w from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre,^{x 10}Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded^y him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.

¹¹Saul sent men to David’s house to watch^z it and to kill him in the morning.^a But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.” ¹²So Michal let David down through a window,^b and he fled and escaped. ¹³Then Michal took an idol^c and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.

¹⁴When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said,^d “He is ill.”

¹⁵Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.” ¹⁶But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair.

¹⁷Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?”

Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?’ ”

¹⁸When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah^e and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. ¹⁹Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; ²⁰so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets^f prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on^g Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.^{h 21}Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. ²²Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said.

²³So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesyingⁱ until he came to Naioth. ²⁴He stripped^j off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s^k presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”^l

David and Jonathan

20Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged^m your father, that he is trying to kill me?”ⁿ

²“Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”

³But David took an oath^o and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”

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

⁵So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast,^p and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide^q in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. ⁶If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission^r to hurry to Bethlehem,^s his hometown, because an annual^t sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ ⁷If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper,^u you can be sure that he is determined^v to harm me. ⁸As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant^w with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill^x me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

⁹“Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”

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

¹¹“Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.

¹²Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound^y out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? ¹³But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely,^z if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with^a you as he has been with my father. ¹⁴But show me unfailing kindness^b like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, ¹⁵and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family^c—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶So Jonathan^d made a covenant^e with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.^f” ¹⁷And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath^g…