1 Samuel 18

Great(i) 1 And when he had made an ende of speakynge vnto Saul, the soule of Ionathas was knyt wyth the soule of Dauid, and Ionathas loued hym as hys awne soule. 2 And Saul toke him that daye, and wolde let him go nomore home to hys fathers house. 3 And Ionathas made a couenaunt wyth Dauid, because be loued him as his awne soule. 4 And Ionathas put of his awne coate that was vpon him, & gaue it Dauid, & therto his cloke, his swerd, his bowe and hys gyrdle. 5 And Dauid went oute whether soeuer Saul sent hym, and behaued him selfe wysely. And Saul sett hym ouer hys men of warre, and he was accepted in the syght of all the people, and in the syght of Sauls seruauntes. 6 And it happened as they went, when Dauid was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that wemen came out of all cyties of Israel syngynge & daunsyng, agaynst kynge Saul, and wyth tymbrelles, wyth ioye, and with instrumentes of musick. 7 And the wemen answered one another in theyr playe, & sayde Saul hath slayne his thousande, and Dauid hys ten thousande. 8 And Saul was excedyng wroth, and the sayinge displeased him, and he sayde: they haue ascribed vnto Dauid ten thousande, and to me but a thousande, & what can he more haue, saue the kyngdome? 9 Wherfore Saul loked on syde of Dauid from that daye forwarde. 10 And it happened on the morowe, that the euell sprete sent of God came vpon Saul, and he prophesyed in the myddes of the house. And Dauid played with hys hande lyke as at other tymes, 11 and there was a iauelyng in Sauls hande. And Saul toke the iauelyng, & sayde: I wyll nayle Dauid to the wall with it. And Dauid auoyded oute of hys presence two tymes. 12 And Saul was afearde of Dauid, because the Lord was with hym, & was departed from Saul. 13 Therfore Saul put him from hym, and made him a captayne ouer a thousand, and he went out & in before the people. 14 And Dauid behaued him selfe wysely in all his wayes, & the Lord was with him. 15 Wherfore when Saul saw that he was so excedynge wyse, he was afrayd of him. 16 But all Israel and Iuda loued Dauid, because he went out and in before them. 17 And Saul sayde to Dauid. Beholde, my eldest daughter Merob, her I wyll geue the to wyfe Only playe the man with me, and fyght the Lordes batelles. For Saul thought: myne hande shall not be vpon hym, but the hand of the Philistines. 18 And Dauid answered Saul: what am I? and what is my lyfe or the kynred of my father in Israel, that I shulde be sonne in lawe to the kynge? 19 Howbeit when the tyme was come that Merob Sauls daughter shulde haue bene geuen to Dauid, she was geuen vnto Adriel a Meholothite, to wyfe. 20 Howbeit, Michol Sauls daughter loued Dauid. And they shewed Saul: & the thynge displeased him not. 21 And Saul sayde: I wyll geue hym her that she maye be a snare to hym, & that the hande of the Philistines maye be agaynst him. Wherfore Saul sayde to Dauid: thou shalt this daye be my sonne in lawe in the other daughter. 22 And Saul commaunded hys seruauntes, to comen wyth Dauid secretlye & to saye: Beholde the kyng hath a fauoure to the, and all his seruauntes loue the, be nowe therfore the kynges sonne in lawe. 23 And Sauls seruauntes spake those wordes in the eares of Dauid. And Dauid sayde: semeth it to you a lyght thynge to be a kynges sonne in lawe: I am a poore man and of smalle reputacion. 24 And the seruauntes brought Saul worde agayne, sayinge: of this maner spake Dauid. 25 And Saul sayd: this wise shal ye saye to Dauid: the kynge careth for no nother dowrye, but for an hundred foreskynnes of the Philistines, to be aduenged of the kynges enemyes. But Saul thought to make Dauid fall into the handes of the Philistines. 26 And when hys seruauntes tolde Dauid these wordes, it pleased Dauid well to be the kynges sonne in lawe. 27 And or the dayes were expyred, Dauid arose with his men, and went & slue of the Philistines, two hundred men, and Dauid brought theyr foreskynnes, and satisfyed the kynge therof, to be hys sonne in lawe. Wherfore Saul gaue hym Michol hys daughter to wyfe. 28 And Saul sawe and vnderstode, howe that the Lorde was with Dauid, and that Michol his daughter loued hym, 29 and he was the moare afrayed of Dauid, and Saul became alwaye Dauids enemie. 30 The lordes of the Philistines vsed to go furth. And it fortuned that whan they went furth, Dauid behaued hym selfe wyselier then all the seruauntes of Saul: so that his name was moche set by.