Saul Fears David

18 When David finished talking with Saul, ·Jonathan felt very close to David [^Lthe life/soul of Jonathan was knit/bound to the life/soul of David]. He loved David as much as ·he loved himself [^Lhis own life/soul]. ² Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him go home to his father’s house. ³ Jonathan made an ·agreement [covenant; solemn pact; treaty] with David, because he loved David as much as ·himself [^Lhis own life/soul]. ⁴ He took off his ·coat [robe; ^Cperhaps a royal robe] and gave it to David, along with his ·armor [tunic], including his sword, bow, and belt [^Can expression of loyalty to David and perhaps even giving him the future kingship].

⁵ [^LWherever] Saul sent David ·to fight in different battles, and David [out, he] was very successful. Then Saul put David ·over [in command of] the soldiers, which pleased Saul’s ·officers [servants] and all the other people.

⁶ After David had ·killed [^Lstruck] the Philistine, he and the men returned home. Women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They sang songs of joy, danced, and played tambourines and ·stringed [musical] instruments. ⁷ As they played, they sang,

⁸ The women’s ·song upset [refrain/saying displeased/^Lwas evil in the eyes/sight of] Saul, and he became very angry. He thought, “The women ·say David has killed [credit/ascribe to David] tens of thousands, but they ·say I have killed [credit/ascribe to me] only thousands. The only thing left for him to have is the kingdom!” ⁹ So Saul watched David closely from then on, because he was jealous.

¹⁰ The next day an ·evil [tormenting] spirit from God ·rushed upon [overwhelmed; seized; possessed] Saul, and he ·prophesied [or raved madly] in his house. David was playing the harp as he usually did, but Saul had a spear in his hand. ¹¹ Saul threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David ·escaped from [eluded] him twice.

¹² The Lord was with David but had ·left [departed/withdrawn/turned away from] Saul. So Saul was afraid of David. ¹³ He sent David away and made him commander of a thousand soldiers. So David led them ·in battle [^Lout and back in]. ¹⁴ He ·had great success [prospered] in everything he did because the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that David ·was very successful [greatly prospered], he ·feared [dreaded; was in awe of] David even more. ¹⁶ But all the people of Israel and Judah loved David because he led them ·well in battle [^Lout and back in].

Saul’s Daughter Marries David

¹⁷ Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will ·let you marry her [^Lgive her to you as a wife]. ·All I ask is that you remain [or But first you must show yourself] brave [^Lfor me] and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul thought, “I won’t ·have to kill David [^Lraise a hand against him]. The Philistines will do that.”

¹⁸ But David answered Saul, saying, “Who am I? ·My family is not important enough [What is my father’s family in Israel…?] for me to become the king’s son-in-law.” ¹⁹ So, when the time ·came [should have come] for Saul’s daughter Merab to marry David, Saul gave her instead to Adriel of Meholah [^Las a wife].

²⁰ Now Saul’s other daughter, Michal, loved David. When they told Saul, ·he was pleased [^Lthe matter was right in his eyes]. ²¹ He thought, “I will ·let her marry [^Lgive her to] David. ·Then […so that] she will be a ·trap [snare] for him, and the ·Philistines will defeat him [^Lhand of the Philistines will be against him].” So Saul said to David ·a second time, “You may [You have a second chance to] become my son-in-law.”

²² And Saul ordered his servants to talk with David ·in private [secretly] and say, “Look, the king ·likes [is delighted with] you. His servants love you. You should ·be [become] his son-in-law.”

²³ Saul’s servants said these words ·to [^Lin the ears of] David, but David answered, “Do you think it is ·easy [^La small/trivial thing] to become the king’s son-in-law? I am poor and ·unimportant [have no position/reputation; ^CDavid cannot afford to pay the expected dowry].”

²⁴ When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, ²⁵ Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king doesn’t want ·money [^La dowry/bride price] for the bride. All he wants is a hundred Philistine foreskins to get ·even with [revenge on] his enemies.’” Saul planned to let ·the Philistines kill David [^LDavid fall at the hands of the Philistines].

²⁶ When Saul’s servants told this to David, ·he was pleased [he was happy/delighted; ^Lthe thing was right in the eyes of David] to become the king’s son-in-law. [^LSo before the days were expired/fulfilled…] ²⁷ He and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. David brought all their foreskins [^Land counted them out] to ·Saul [the king] so he could be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. ²⁸ Saul ·saw [realized; ^Lsaw and knew] that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David. ²⁹ So he grew even more afraid of David, and he was David’s enemy ·all his life [from then on; ^Lall the days].

³⁰ The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites, but every time, David was more ·skillful [successful; wise] than Saul’s officers. So he became ·famous [highly esteemed; ^Lhis name became extremely valuable].