David

But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back.

Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?”

So when it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.

Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him.

“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”

Then Saul ordered his servants, “Speak to David privately and tell him, ‘Behold, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become his son-in-law.’”

But when Saul’s servants relayed these words to David, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.”

And the servants told Saul what David had said.

Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.

When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,

David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage.

When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,

he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy.

Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed.

Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan delighted greatly in David,

so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there.

Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.

He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul to serve him as he had before.

When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him.

But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp,

Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night.

Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”

So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.