³² David said to Saul, “^(A)Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; ^(B)your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” ³³ Then Saul said to David, “^(C)You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I went out after him and ^[a]attacked him, and ^(D)rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and ^[b]struck him and killed him. ³⁶ Your servant has ^[c]killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ And 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 may the Lord be with you.” ³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. ³⁹ David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them ^[d]off. ⁴⁰ He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and ^(G)his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, ^(H)he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ^(I)ruddy, with a handsome appearance. ⁴³ The Philistine said to David, “^(J)Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And ^(K)the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^(L)to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, ^(M)but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the ^(N)dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, ^(O)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that ^(P)the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; ^(Q)for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that ^(R)David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰ Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and ^(S)took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. ^(T)When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. ⁵² The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines ^[e]as far as the valley, and to the gates of ^(U)Ekron. And the slain Philistines ^[f]lay along the way to ^(V)Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps. ⁵⁴ Then David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

⁵⁵ Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is ^(W)this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.” ⁵⁶ The king said, “You inquire whose son the youth is.” ⁵⁷ So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and ^(X)brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand. ⁵⁸ Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “^(Y)I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Jonathan and David

18 Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that ^(A)the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and ^(B)Jonathan loved him as himself. ² Saul took him that day and ^(C)did not let him return to his father’s house. ³ Then ^(D)Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. ^4 (E)Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and ^[a]prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

⁶ It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that ^(F)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with ^[b]musical instruments. ⁷ The women ^(G)sang as they ^[c]played, and said,

⁸ Then Saul became very angry, for this saying ^[d]displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now ^(J)what more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.

Saul Turns against David

¹⁰ Now it came about on the next day that ^(K)an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and ^(L)he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, ^[e](M)as usual; and ^[f](N)a spear was in Saul’s hand. ^11 (O)Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will ^[g]pin David to the wall.” But David ^[h]escaped from his presence twice.

¹² Now ^(P)Saul was afraid of David, ^(Q)for the Lord was with him but ^(R)had departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from ^[i]his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and ^(S)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ David was ^[j]prospering in all his ways for ^(T)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that he was ^[k]prospering greatly, he dreaded him. ¹⁶ But ^(U)all Israel and Judah loved David, and he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “^(V)Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight ^(W)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but ^(X)let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸ But David said to Saul, “^(Y)Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹ So it came about at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^(Z)Adriel ^(AA)the Meholathite for a wife.

David Marries Saul’s Daughter

²⁰ Now ^(AB)Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable ^[l]to him. ²¹ Saul thought, “I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and ^(AC)that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David, “^(AD)For a second time you may be my son-in-law today.” ²² Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David secretly, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’” ²³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words ^[m]to David. But David said, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, ^(AE)since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?” ²⁴ The servants of Saul reported to him ^[n]according to these words which David spoke. ²⁵ Saul then said, “Thus you shall say to David, ‘The king does not desire any ^(AF)dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(AG)to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” Now ^(AH)Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ When his servants told David these words, ^[o]it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. ^[p](AI)Before the days had expired ²⁷ David rose up and went, ^(AJ)he and his men, and struck down two hundred men among the Philistines. Then ^(AK)David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife. ²⁸ When Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, ²⁹ then Saul was even more afraid of David. Thus Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the commanders of the Philistines ^(AL)went out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David ^(AM)behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed.

David Protected from Saul

19 Now Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants ^(A)to put David to death. But ^(B)Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. ² So Jonathan told David saying, “Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. ³ I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; ^(C)if I ^[a]find out anything, then I will tell you.” ⁴ Then Jonathan ^(D)spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “^(E)Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very ^[b]beneficial to you. ⁵ For ^(F)he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and ^(G)the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. ^(H)Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?” ⁶ Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” ⁷ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as ^(I)formerly.

⁸ When there was war again, David went out and fought with the Philistines and ^[c]defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled before him. ⁹ Now there was ^(J)an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house ^(K)with his spear in his hand, ^(L)and David was playing the harp with his hand. ^10 (M)Saul tried to ^[d]pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he ^[e]stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹ Then ^(N)Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.” ^12 (O)So Michal let David down through a window, and he went out and fled and escaped. ¹³ Michal took ^(P)the ^[f]household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴ When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “^(Q)He is sick.” ¹⁵ Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on ^[g]his bed, that I may put him to death.” ¹⁶ When the messengers entered, behold, the ^[h]household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair at its head. ¹⁷ So Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! ^(R)Why should I put you to death?’”

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies.

For the choir director; set to ^[a]Al-tashheth. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David, ^[c]when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.