NAS - 1 Samuel Chapter 18 to 19

18 Jonathan and David

¹Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself. ²Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father's house. ³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. ⁴Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

⁶It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. ⁷The women sang as they played, and said, "Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands." ⁸Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" ⁹Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.

Saul Turns against David

¹⁰Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul's hand. ¹¹Saul hurled the spear for he thought, "I will pin David to the wall." But David escaped from his presence twice.

¹²Now Saul was afraid of David, for the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. ¹³Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴David was prospering in all his ways for the LORD was with him. ¹⁵When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him. ¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, and he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the LORD'S battles." For Saul thought, "My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him." ¹⁸But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be the king's son-in-law?" ¹⁹So it came about at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.

David Marries Saul's Daughter

²⁰Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable to him. ²¹Saul thought, "I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." Therefore Saul said to David, "For a second time you may be my son-in-law today." ²²Then Saul commanded his servants, "Speak to David secretly, saying, `Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now therefore, become the king's son-in-law.'" ²³So Saul's servants spoke these words to David. But David said, "Is it trivial in your sight to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?" ²⁴The servants of Saul reported to him according to these words which David spoke. ²⁵Saul then said, "Thus you shall say to David, `The king does not desire any dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king's enemies.'" Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶When his servants told David these words, it pleased David to become the king's son-in-law. Before the days had expired ²⁷David rose up and went, he and his men, and struck down two hundred men among the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife. ²⁸When Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, ²⁹then Saul was even more afraid of David. Thus Saul was David's enemy continually.

³⁰Then the commanders of the Philistines went out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed.

19 David Protected from Saul

¹Now Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death. But Jonathan, Saul's son, greatly delighted in David. ²So Jonathan told David saying, "Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. ³"I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; if I find out anything, then I will tell you." ⁴Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. ⁵"For he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great deliverance for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?" ⁶Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, "As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death." ⁷Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as formerly.

⁸When there was war again, David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled before him. ⁹Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. ¹⁰Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, "If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death." ¹²So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped. ¹³Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, "He is sick." ¹⁵Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, "Bring him up to me on his bed, that I may put him to death." ¹⁶When the messengers entered, behold, the household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats' hair at its head. ¹⁷So Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?" And Michal said to Saul, "He said to me, `Let me go! Why should I put you to death?'"

¹⁸Now David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹It was told Saul, saying, "Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah." ²⁰Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. ²¹When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. ²²Then he himself went to Ramah and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, "Where are Samuel and David?" And someone said, "Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah." ²³He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"