³² Then David said to Saul, ^(A)“Let no man’s heart fail because of him; ^(B)your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

³³ And Saul said to David, ^(C)“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a ^(D)lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, ³⁵ I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ Moreover David said, ^(E)“The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, ^(F)“Go, and the Lord be with you!”

³⁸ So Saul clothed David with his ^[a]armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹ So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he ^(G)disdained^[b] him; for he was only a youth, ^(H)ruddy and good-looking. ⁴³ So the Philistine ^(I)said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ And the Philistine ^(J)said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. ^(K)But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have ^(L)defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give ^(M)the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, ^(N)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord ^(O)does not save with sword and spear; for ^(P)the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ^(Q)ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a ^(R)sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his ^(S)sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, ^(T)they fled. ⁵² Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of ^[c]the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to ^(U)Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. ⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to ^(V)Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, ^(W)whose son is this youth?”

And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”

⁵⁶ So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”

⁵⁷ Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul ^(X)with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

So David answered, ^(Y)“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Saul Resents David

18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, ^(Z)the ^[d]soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, ^(AA)and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, ^(AB)and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a ^(AC)covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and ^[e]behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. ⁶ Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the ^[f]Philistine, that ^(AD)the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ So the women ^(AE)sang as they danced, and said:

⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying ^(AG)displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but ^(AH)the kingdom?” ⁹ So Saul ^[g]eyed David from that day forward.

¹⁰ And it happened on the next day that ^(AI)the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, ^(AJ)and he prophesied inside the house. So David ^(AK)played music with his hand, as at other times; ^(AL)but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(AM)cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

¹² Now Saul was ^(AN)afraid of David, because ^(AO)the Lord was with him, but had ^(AP)departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from ^[h]his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and ^(AQ)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and ^(AR)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(AS)all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Michal

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; ^(AT)I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight ^(AU)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, ^(AV)“Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸ So David said to Saul, ^(AW)“Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹ But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^(AX)Adriel the ^(AY)Meholathite as a wife.

^20 (AZ)Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may ^[i]be a snare to him, and that ^(BA)the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, ^(BB)“You shall be my son-in-law today.”

²² And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³ So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, saying, ^[j]“In this manner David spoke.”

²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(BC)dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take ^(BD)vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul ^(BE)thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now ^(BF)the days had not expired; ²⁷ therefore David arose and went, he and ^(BG)his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And ^(BH)David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.

²⁸ Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; ²⁹ and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy ^[k]continually. ³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines ^(BI)went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David ^(BJ)behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

Saul Persecutes David

19 Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill ^(BK)David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, ^(BL)delighted greatly in David. ² So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. ³ And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell ^(BM)you.”

⁴ Thus Jonathan ^(BN)spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king ^(BO)sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. ⁵ For he took his ^(BP)life in his hands and ^(BQ)killed the Philistine, and ^(BR)the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. ^(BS)Why then will you ^(BT)sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

⁶ So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” ⁷ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence ^(BU)as in times past.

⁸ And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, ^(BV)and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him.

⁹ Now ^(BW)the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. ¹⁰ Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul’s presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.

^11 (BX)Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal ^(BY)let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took ^[l]an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴ So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵ Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?”

And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! ^(BZ)Why should I kill you?’ ”

The Assured Judgment of the Wicked

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[a]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David ^(A)when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped, and went to ^(A)Samuel at ^(B)Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹ Now it was told Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” ²⁰ Then ^(C)Saul sent messengers to take David. ^(D)And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also ^(E)prophesied. ²¹ And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. ²² Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So he asked, and said, “Where are Samuel and David?”

And someone said, “Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then ^(F)the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ^24 (G)And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down ^(H)naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, ^(I)“Is Saul also among the prophets?”