9. So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
10. The very next day a tormenting spirit from God overwhelmed Saul, and he began to rave in his house like a madman. David was playing the harp, as he did each day. But Saul had a spear in his hand,
11. and he suddenly hurled it at David, intending to pin him to the wall. But David escaped him twice.
12. Saul was then afraid of David, for the lord was with David and had turned away from Saul.
13. Finally, Saul sent him away and appointed him commander over 1,000 men, and David faithfully led his troops into battle.
14. David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the lord was with him.
15. When Saul recognized this, he became even more afraid of him.
16. But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was so successful at leading his troops into battle.
17. One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab, as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I’ll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself.”
18. “Who am I, and what is my family in Israel that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” David exclaimed. “My father’s family is nothing!”
19. So when the time came for Saul to give his daughter Merab in marriage to David, he gave her instead to Adriel, a man from Meholah.
20. In the meantime, Saul’s daughter Michal had fallen in love with David, and Saul was delighted when he heard about it.
21. “Here’s another chance to see him killed by the Philistines!” Saul said to himself. But to David he said, “Today you have a second chance to become my son-in-law!”
22. Then Saul told his men to say to David, “The king really likes you, and so do we. Why don’t you accept the king’s offer and become his son-in-law?”
23. When Saul’s men said these things to David, he replied, “How can a poor man from a humble family afford the bride price for the daughter of a king?”