1 Samuel 18:17-26

English Standard Version

David Marries Michal

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is ^(A)my elder daughter Merab. ^(B)I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me ^(C)and fight the Lord's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, ^(D)but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸ And David said to Saul, ^(E)“Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹ But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to ^(F)Adriel the ^(G)Meholathite for a wife.

²⁰ Now ^(H)Saul's daughter Michal ^(I)loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may ^(J)be a snare for him ^(K)and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,^{[a] (L)}“You shall now be my son-in-law.” ²² And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’” ²³ And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, ^(M)“Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” ²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no ^(N)bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(O)that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” ^(P)Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. ^(Q)Before the time had expired,