1David and Saul finished talking, and soon David and Jonathan18.1 Jonathan: Saul's eldest son (see chapter 14). became best friends. Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself. 2From that time on, Saul kept David in his service and would not let David go back to his own family.

3Jonathan liked David so much that they promised they would always be loyal friends. 4Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes,18.4 military clothes: Or “armour”. his sword, his bow and arrows, and his belt.

5David was a success in everything that Saul sent him to do, and Saul made him a high officer in his army. That pleased everyone, including Saul's other officers.

Saul tries to kill David

Saul becomes David's enemy

6David had killed Goliath, the battle was over, and the Israelite army set out for home. As the army went along, women came out of each Israelite town to welcome King Saul. They were singing happy songs and dancing to the music of tambourines and harps. 7They sang:18.7: 1 S 21.11; 29.5.

Saul has killed

a thousand enemies;

David has killed

ten thousand enemies!

8This song made Saul very angry, and he thought, “They are saying that David has killed ten times more enemies than I ever did. Next they will want to make him king.” 9Saul never again trusted David.

10The next day the LORD let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a mad man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand. 11Saul thought, “I'll pin David to the wall.” He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.

12Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was helping David and was no longer helping him. 13Saul put David in charge of a thousand soldiers and sent him out to fight. 14The LORD helped David, and he and his soldiers always won their battles. 15This made Saul even more afraid of David. 16But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal to18.16 was loyal to: Or “loved”. David, because he led the army in battle.

17One day, Saul told David, “If you'll be brave and fight the LORD's battles for me, I'll let you marry my eldest daughter Merab.” But Saul was really thinking, “I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me.”

18David answered, “How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family.”

19But when the time came for David to marry Saul's daughter Merab, Saul told her to marry Adriel from the town of Meholah.

20Saul had another daughter. Her name was Michal, and Saul found out that she was in love with David. This made Saul happy, 21and he thought, “I'll tell David he can marry Michal, but I'll set it up so that the Philistines will kill him.” He told David, “I'm going to give you a second chance to marry one of my daughters.”

22-23Saul ordered his officials to speak to David in private, so they went to David and said, “Look, the king likes you, and all his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you can marry his daughter Michal?”

“I'm not rich18.22,23 not rich: It was the custom for a man to give the bride's father some silver or gold in order to marry his daughter, and it would take a large amount to marry the daughter of the king. or famous enough to marry princess Michal!” David answered.

24The officials went back to Saul and told him exactly what David had said. 25Saul was hoping that the Philistines would kill David, and he told his officials to tell David, “The king doesn't want any silver or gold. He only wants to get even with his enemies. All you have to do is to bring back proof that you have killed a hundred Philistines!”18.25 proof…Philistines: Hebrew “one hundred Philistine foreskins”. In ancient times soldiers would sometimes cut off body parts of their dead enemies to prove how many they had killed. 26The officials told David, and David wanted to marry the princess.

King Saul had set a time limit, and before it ran out, 27David and his men left and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought back the proof and showed it to Saul, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. 28Saul knew that she loved David,18.28 she…David: Hebrew; one ancient translation “all Israel was loyal to David”. and he also realized that the LORD was helping David. 29But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life.

30The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers.