3. So Jonathan made a pledge of mutual loyalty with David because he loved him as much as ⌊he loved⌋ himself.
4. Jonathan took off the coat he had on and gave it to David along with his battle tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.
5. David was successful wherever Saul sent him. Saul put him in charge of the fighting men. This pleased all the people, including Saul’s officials.
6. As they arrived, David was returning from a campaign against the Philistines. Women from all of Israel’s cities came to meet King Saul. They sang and danced, accompanied by tambourines, joyful music, and triangles.
7. The women who were celebrating sang,“Saul has defeated thousandsbut David tens of thousands!”
8. Saul became very angry because he considered this saying to be insulting. “To David they credit tens of thousands,” he said, “but to me they credit ⌊only⌋ a few thousand. The only thing left for David is my kingdom.”
9. From that day on Saul kept an eye on David.
10. The next day an evil spirit from God seized Saul. He began to prophesy in his house while David strummed a tune on the lyre as he did every day. Now, Saul had a spear in his hand.
11. He raised the spear and thought, “I’ll nail David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.
12. Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.
13. So he kept David away. He made David captain of a regiment. David led the troops out ⌊to battle⌋ and back again.
14. He was successful in everything he undertook because the Lord was with him.
15. Saul noticed how very successful he was and became ⌊even more⌋ afraid of him.
16. Everyone in Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in and out ⌊of battle⌋.
17. Finally, Saul said to David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife if you prove yourself to be a warrior for me and fight the Lord’s battles.” (Saul thought, “I must not lay a hand on him. Let the Philistines do that.”)
18. “Who am I?” David asked Saul. “And how important are my relatives or my father’s family in Israel that I should be the king’s son-in-law?”
19. But when the time came to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was married to Adriel from Meholah.