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1 Samuel 18:17-30

1 Samuel 18:17-30 NCV

Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will let you marry her. All I ask is that you remain brave and fight the LORD’s battles.” Saul thought, “I won’t have to kill David. The Philistines will do that.” But David answered Saul, saying, “Who am I? My family is not important enough for me to become the king’s son-in-law.” So, when the time came for Saul’s daughter Merab to marry David, Saul gave her instead to Adriel of Meholah. Now Saul’s other daughter, Michal, loved David. When they told Saul, he was pleased. He thought, “I will let her marry David. Then she will be a trap for him, and the Philistines will defeat him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You may become my son-in-law.” And Saul ordered his servants to talk with David in private and say, “Look, the king likes you. His servants love you. You should be his son-in-law.” Saul’s servants said these words to David, but David answered, “Do you think it is easy to become the king’s son-in-law? I am poor and unimportant.” When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, Saul said, “Tell David, ‘The king doesn’t want money for the bride. All he wants is a hundred Philistine foreskins to get even with his enemies.’ ” Saul planned to let the Philistines kill David. When Saul’s servants told this to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So he and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. David brought all their foreskins to Saul so he could be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. Saul saw that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David. So he grew even more afraid of David, and he was David’s enemy all his life. The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites, but every time, David was more skillful than Saul’s officers. So he became famous.