1 Samuel 18
18
1David and Saul finished talking, and soon David and Jonathan#18.1 Jonathan: Saul's oldest 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 to 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 “armor.” 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 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 celebrating by singing songs and dancing to the music of tambourines and harps. 7#1 S 21.11; 29.5. They sang:
Saul has killed
a thousand enemies;
David has killed
ten thousand!
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 crazy 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 1,000 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 to#18.16 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 oldest 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 of his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you can marry his daughter Michal?”
“I'm not rich#18.22,23 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 100 Philistines!”#18.25 proof … Philistines: Hebrew “100 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 200 Philistines. David brought back the proof that Saul had demanded and showed it to him, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. 28King Saul 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.
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1 Samuel 18: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 18
18
Saul’s Growing Fear of David
1David finished talking with Saul. After that, Jonathan and David became close friends. Jonathan loved David just as he loved himself. 2From that time on, Saul kept David with him. He didn’t let him return home to his family. 3Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him just as he loved himself. 4Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes. He even gave him his sword, his bow and his belt.
5David did everything Saul sent him to do. He did it so well that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. That pleased Saul’s whole army, including his officers.
6After David had killed Goliath, the men of Israel returned home. The women came out of all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They danced and sang joyful songs. They played harps and tambourines. 7As they danced, they sang,
“Saul has killed thousands of men.
David has killed tens of thousands.”
8That song made Saul very angry. It really upset him. He said to himself, “They are saying David has killed tens of thousands of men. But they are saying I’ve killed only thousands. The only thing left for him to get is the kingdom itself.” 9From that time on, Saul watched David closely.
10The next day an evil spirit sent by God came powerfully on Saul. Saul began to prophesy in his house. At that same time David began to play the harp, just as he usually did. Saul was holding a spear. 11He threw it at David. As he did, he said to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.
12The Lord had left Saul and was with David. So Saul was afraid of David. 13He sent David away. He put him in command of 1,000 men. David led the troops in battle. 14In everything he did, he was very successful. That’s because the Lord was with him. 15When Saul saw how successful David was, he became afraid of him. 16But all the troops of Israel and Judah loved David. That’s because he led them in battle.
17Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you to be your wife. Just serve me bravely and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul said to himself, “I won’t have to lift my hand to strike him down. The Philistines will do that!”
18But David said to Saul, “Who am I? Is anyone in my whole family that important in Israel? Am I worthy to become the king’s son-in-law?” 19The time came for Saul to give his daughter Merab to David. Instead, Saul gave her to Adriel from Meholah to be his wife.
20Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David. When they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 21“I’ll give her to David to be his wife,” Saul said to himself. “Then maybe she’ll trap him. And maybe the Philistines will strike him down.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second chance to become my son-in-law.”
22Then Saul gave an order to his attendants. He said, “Speak to David in private. Tell him, ‘The king likes you. All his attendants love you. So become his son-in-law.’ ”
23Saul’s attendants spoke those very words to David. But David said, “Do you think it’s a small thing to become the king’s son-in-law? I’m only a poor man. I’m not very well known.”
24Saul’s attendants told him what David had said. 25Saul said, “Tell David, ‘Here’s the price the king wants for the bride. He wants you to kill 100 Philistines. Then bring back the skins you cut off when you circumcise them. That’s how Saul will get even with his enemies.’ ” Saul hoped that the Philistines would strike David down.
26Saul’s attendants also told David those things. Then David was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the wedding day, 27David and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. They circumcised the Philistines. Then David brought back all the skins. They counted out the full number and gave them to the king. By doing that, David could become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave David his daughter Michal to be his wife.
28Saul realized that the Lord was with David. He also realized that his daughter Michal loved David. 29So Saul became even more afraid of him. As long as Saul lived, he remained David’s enemy.
30The Philistine commanders kept on going out to battle. Every time they did, David had more success against them than the rest of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.
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