1 Samuel 18:1-21 ▼

1 And when he had made an ende of speaking vnto Saul, the soule of Ionathan was knit with the soule of Dauid, & Ionathan loued him, as his owne soule.

2 And Saul tooke him that day, and woulde not let him returne to his fathers house.

3 Then Ionathan and Dauid made a couenant: for he loued him as his owne soule.

4 And Ionathan put off the robe that was vpon him, & gaue it Dauid, & his garments, euen to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

5 And Dauid went out whithersoeuer Saul sent him, & behaued himselfe wisely: so that Saul set him ouer the men of warre, & he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Sauls seruants.

6 When they came againe, & Dauid returned from the slaughter of the Philistim, the women came out of all cities of Israel singing and dauncing to meete king Saul, with timbrels, with instruments of ioy, and with rebeckes.

7 And the women sang by course in their play, and sayd, Saul hath slayne his thousand, & Dauid his ten thousand.

8 Therefore Saul was exceeding wroth, and the saying displeased him, & he sayde, They haue ascribed vnto Dauid ten thousand, & to me they haue ascribed but a thousand, & what can he haue more saue the kingdome?

9 Wherefore Saul had an eye on Dauid from that day forward.

10 And on the morowe, the euill spirite of God came vpon Saul, and he prophecied in the middes of the house: and Dauid played with his hand like as at other times, and there was a speare in Sauls hand.

11 And Saul tooke the speare, and sayd, I will smite Dauid through to the wall. But Dauid auoyded twise out of his presence.

12 And Saul was afrayd of Dauid, because the Lord was with him, & was departed from Saul.

13 Therefore Saul put him from him, & made him a captaine ouer a thousand, and he went out and in before the people.

14 And Dauid behaued himselfe wisely in all his wayes: for the Lord was with him.

15 Wherefore when Saul saw that he was very wise, he was afrayde of him.

16 For all Israel and Iudah loued Dauid, because he went out and in before them.

17 Then Saul sayd to Dauid, Beholde mine eldest daughter Merab, her I will giue thee to wife: onely be a valiant sonne vnto me, & fight the Lordes battels: for Saul thought, Mine hand shal not be vpon him, but the hand of the Philistims shalbe vpon him.

18 And Dauid answered Saul, What am I? and what is my life, or the family of my father in Israel, that I should be sonne in law to the King?

19 Howbeit when Merab Sauls daughter should haue bene giuen to Dauid, she was giuen vnto Adriel a Meholathite to wife.

20 Then Michal Sauls daughter loued Dauid: & they shewed Saul, & the thing pleased him.

21 Therefore Saul said, I wil giue him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistims may bee against him. Wherefore Saul sayde to Dauid, Thou shalt this day be my sonne in law in the one of the twayne.