⁵⁷ So when David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner sent for him and presented him to Saul. The Philistine’s head was still in David’s hand. ⁵⁸ Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, my boy?”

“I’m the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.

Jonathan and David

18 As soon as David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan’s life^[a] became bound up with David’s life, and Jonathan loved David as much as himself.^{[b] 2} From that point forward, Saul kept David in his service^[c] and wouldn’t allow him to return to his father’s household. ³ And Jonathan and David made a covenant together because Jonathan loved David as much as himself. ⁴ Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his armor, as well as his sword, his bow, and his belt. ⁵ David went out and was successful in every mission Saul sent him to do. So Saul placed him in charge of the soldiers, and this pleased all the troops as well as Saul’s servants.

¹⁰ The next day an evil spirit from God came over Saul,^[a] and he acted like he was in a prophetic frenzy in his house. So David played the lyre as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand, ¹¹ and he threw it, thinking, I’ll pin David to the wall. But David escaped from him two different times.

¹² Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with David but no longer with Saul. ¹³ So Saul removed David from his service, placing him in command of a unit of one thousand men. David led the men out to war and back. ¹⁴ David was successful in everything he did because the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Saul saw that he was very successful, and he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ Everyone in Israel and Judah loved David because he led them out in war and back again.