⁵⁵ When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to ^(A)Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, ^(B)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 ^(C)with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

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

Saul Resents David

18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, ^(A)the ^[a]soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, ^(B)and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, ^(C)and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a ^(D)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 ^[b]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 ^[c]Philistine, that ^(E)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 ^(F)sang as they danced, and said:

⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying ^(H)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 ^(I)the kingdom?” ⁹ So Saul ^[d]eyed David from that day forward.

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

A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption

A Psalm of David.

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

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

David Marries Michal

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

¹⁸ So David said to Saul, ^(D)“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 ^(E)Adriel the ^(F)Meholathite as a wife.

^20 (G)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 ^[a]be a snare to him, and that ^(H)the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, ^(I)“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, ^[b]“In this manner David spoke.”

²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(J)dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take ^(K)vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul ^(L)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 ^(M)the days had not expired; ²⁷ therefore David arose and went, he and ^(N)his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And ^(O)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 ^[c]continually.

Prayer for Safekeeping from Wickedness

A Psalm of David.

³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines ^(A)went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David ^(B)behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.