¹Saul and David finished their conversation. After that, Saul's son Jonathan was deeply attracted to David and came to love him as much as he loved himself.

²Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him go back home.

³Jonathan swore eternal friendship with David because of his deep affection for him.

⁴He took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, together with his armor and also his sword, bow, and belt.

⁵David was successful in all the missions on which Saul sent him, and so Saul made him an officer in his army. This pleased all of Saul's officers and men.

Saul Becomes Jealous of David

⁶As David was returning after killing Goliath and as the soldiers were coming back home, women from every town in Israel came out to meet King Saul. They were singing joyful songs, dancing, and playing tambourines and lyres.

⁷In their celebration the women sang, “Saul has killed thousands, but David tens of thousands.”

⁸Saul did not like this, and he became very angry. He said, “For David they claim tens of thousands, but only thousands for me. They will be making him king next!”

⁹And so he was jealous and suspicious of David from that day on.

¹⁰The next day an evil spirit from God suddenly took control of Saul, and he raved in his house like a madman. David was playing the harp, as he did every day, and Saul was holding a spear.

¹¹“I'll pin him to the wall,” Saul said to himself, and he threw the spear at him twice; but David dodged each time.

¹²Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with David but had abandoned him.

¹³So Saul sent him away and put him in command of a thousand men. David led his men in battle

¹⁴and was successful in all he did, because the Lord was with him.

¹⁵Saul noticed David's success and became even more afraid of him.

¹⁶But everyone in Israel and Judah loved David because he was such a successful leader.

David Marries Saul's Daughter

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife on condition that you serve me as a brave and loyal soldier, and fight the Lord's battles.” (Saul was thinking that in this way the Philistines would kill David, and he would not have to do it himself.)

¹⁸David answered, “Who am I and what is my family that I should become the king's son-in-law?”

¹⁹But when the time came for Merab to be given to David, she was given instead to a man named Adriel from Meholah.

²⁰Saul's daughter Michal, however, fell in love with David, and when Saul heard of this, he was pleased.

²¹He said to himself, “I'll give Michal to David; I will use her to trap him, and he will be killed by the Philistines.” So for the second time Saul said to David, “You will be my son-in-law.”

²²He ordered his officials to speak privately with David and tell him, “The king is pleased with you and all his officials like you; now is a good time for you to marry his daughter.”

²³So they told this to David, and he answered, “It's a great honor to become the king's son-in-law, too great for someone poor and insignificant like me.”

²⁴The officials told Saul what David had said,

²⁵and Saul ordered them to tell David: “All the king wants from you as payment for the bride are the foreskins of a hundred dead Philistines, as revenge on his enemies.” (This was how Saul planned to have David killed by the Philistines.)

²⁶Saul's officials reported to David what Saul had said, and David was delighted with the thought of becoming the king's son-in-law. Before the day set for the wedding,

²⁷David and his men went and killed two hundred Philistines. He took their foreskins to the king and counted them all out to him, so that he might become his son-in-law. So Saul had to give his daughter Michal in marriage to David.

²⁸Saul realized clearly that the Lord was with David and also that his daughter Michal loved him.

²⁹So he became even more afraid of David and was his enemy as long as he lived.

³⁰The Philistine armies would come and fight, but in every battle David was more successful than any of Saul's other officers. As a result David became very famous.

David Is Persecuted by Saul

¹Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials that he planned to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David,

²and so he told him, “My father is trying to kill you. Please be careful tomorrow morning; hide in some secret place and stay there.

³I will go and stand by my father in the field where you are hiding, and I will speak to him about you. If I find out anything, I will let you know.”

⁴Jonathan praised David to Saul and said, “Sir, don't do wrong to your servant David. He has never done you any wrong; on the contrary, everything he has done has been a great help to you.

⁵He risked his life when he killed Goliath, and the Lord won a great victory for Israel. When you saw it, you were glad. Why, then, do you now want to do wrong to an innocent man and kill David for no reason at all?”

⁶Saul was convinced by what Jonathan said and made a vow in the Lord's name that he would not kill David.

⁷So Jonathan called David and told him everything; then he took him to Saul, and David served the king as he had before.

⁸War with the Philistines broke out again. David attacked them and defeated them so thoroughly that they fled.

⁹One day an evil spirit from the Lord took control of Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was there, playing his harp.

¹⁰Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David dodged, and the spear stuck in the wall. David ran away and escaped.

¹¹That same night Saul sent some men to watch David's house and kill him the next morning. Michal, David's wife, warned him, “If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you will be dead.”

¹²She let him down from a window, and he ran away and escaped.

¹³Then she took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a pillow made of goats' hair at its head, and put a cover over it.

¹⁴When Saul's men came to get David, Michal told them that he was sick.

¹⁵But Saul sent them back to see David for themselves. He ordered them, “Carry him here in his bed, and I will kill him.”

¹⁶They went inside and found the household idol in the bed and the goats' hair pillow at its head.

¹⁷Saul asked Michal, “Why have you tricked me like this and let my enemy escape?” She answered, “He said he would kill me if I didn't help him escape.”

¹⁸David escaped and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

¹⁹Saul was told that David was in Naioth in Ramah,

²⁰so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout.

²¹When Saul heard of this, he sent more messengers, and they also began to dance and shout. He sent messengers the third time, and the same thing happened to them.

²²Then he himself started out to Ramah. When he came to the large well in Secu, he asked where Samuel and David were and was told that they were at Naioth.

²³As he was going there, the spirit of God took control of him also, and he danced and shouted all the way to Naioth.

²⁴He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, “Has even Saul become a prophet?”)

A Prayer for Safety

¹Save me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who attack me!

²Save me from those evil people; rescue me from those murderers!

³Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done,

⁴nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord, that they hurry to their places.

⁵Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid; see for yourself, God of Israel! Wake up and punish the heathen; show no mercy to evil traitors!

⁶They come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city.

⁷Listen to their insults and threats. Their tongues are like swords in their mouths, yet they think that no one hears them.

⁸But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen.

⁹I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God.

¹⁰My God loves me and will come to me; he will let me see my enemies defeated.

¹¹Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your strength and defeat them, O Lord, our protector.

¹²Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful; may they be caught in their pride! Because they curse and lie,

¹³destroy them in your anger; destroy them completely. Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel, that his rule extends over all the earth.

¹⁴My enemies come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city,

¹⁵like dogs roaming about for food and growling if they do not find enough.

¹⁶But I will sing about your strength; every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love. You have been a refuge for me, a shelter in my time of trouble.

¹⁷I will praise you, my defender. My refuge is God, the God who loves me.