1 Samuel 18
Bishops' Bible of 1568 Par ▾ 

Jonathan Befriends David

1And whe he had made an end of speaking vnto Saul, the soule of Ionathan was knit with the soule of Dauid, and Ionathan loued him as his owne soule. 2And Saul toke him that daye, and woulde let him go no more home to his fathers house. 3Then Ionathan and Dauid made a couenaunt, because he loued him as his owne soule. 4And Ionathan put of the robe that was vpon him, and gaue it to Dauid, and thereto his garmentes, euen to his sword, and to his bowe, and to his gyrdel.

Saul Envies David

5And Dauid went out whythersoeuer Saul sent him, and behaued him selfe wysely: And Saul set hym ouer his men of warre, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, & in the sight of Sauls seruauntes.

6And as they came againe when Dauid was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dausing, to meete king Saul, with timbrels, with ioy, and with instrumentes of musicke.

7And the women aunswered one another in their play, and sayde: Saul hath slaine his thousand, and Dauid his ten thousand.

8And Saul was exceeding wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he sayd: They haue ascribed vnto Dauid ten thousand, & to me but a thousande: and what can he more haue, saue the kingdome? 9Wherfore Saul had an eye on Dauid from that day forwarde.

10And on the morow, the euyll spirite sent of God came vpon Saul, and he prophesied in the middes of ye house: And Dauid played with his hand, like as at other tymes: & there was a iauelyn in Sauls hand. 11And Saul toke the iauelyn, and sayd: I will nayle Dauid to the wall with it. And Dauid auoyded out of his presence two times.

12And Saul was afrayde of Dauid, because the Lorde was with him, & was departed from Saul. 13Therefore Saul put him from him, and made him a captaine ouer a thousand, and he went out and in before the people. 14And Dauid behaued him selfe wisely in all his wayes, and the Lorde was with him. 15Wherefore when Saul sawe that he was so exceeding wise, he was afrayde of him. 16But all Israel and Iuda loued Dauid, because he went out and in before them.

David Marries Michal

17And Saul sayde to Dauid: Beholde my eldest daughter Merob, her I will geue thee to wife: Onely be a valiaunt sonne vnto me, & fight the Lordes battayles. For Saul thought: Mine hand shall not be vpon him, but the hande of the Philistines shalbe vpon him. 18And Dauid aunswered Saul: What am I? and what is my lyfe or the kynred of my father in Israel, that I should be sonne in lawe to the king? 19Howbeit, when the time was come that Merob Sauls daughter shoulde haue ben geuen to Dauid, she was geue vnto Adriel a Meholathite, to wife.

20Howbeit, Michol Sauls daughter loued Dauid: and they shewed Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21And Saul sayde: I will geue him her that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul sayde to Dauid: Thou shalt this day be my sonne in lawe in the one of the twayne. 22And Saul comaunded his seruautes to come with Dauid secretely, & to say: Behold, the king hath a fauour to thee, and all his seruautes loue thee: be now therefore the kinges sonne in lawe. 23And Sauls seruauntes spake those wordes in the eares of Dauid. And Dauid said: semeth it to you a light thing to be a kinges sonne in lawe? seeing that I am a poore man, and of smal reputation. 24And the seruauntes brought Saul word againe, saying: Of this maner spake Dauid. 25And Saul sayde, This wise shall ye saye to Dauid: The king careth for no other dowry, but for an hundred foreskinnes of the Philistines, to be auenged of the kynges enemies. But Saul thought to make Dauid fall into the handes of the Philistines. 26And when his seruauntes tolde Dauid these wordes, it pleased Dauid wel to be the kinges sonne in lawe: And the dayes were not expired. 27Afterward Dauid arose with his men, and went and slue of the Philistines two hundred men, and Dauid brought their foreskinnes, and they gaue them wholly to the king, that he might be the kinges sonne in lawe: Wherefore Saul gaue him Michol his daughter to wife. 28And Saul saw and vnderstoode how that the Lorde was with Dauid, and that Michol his daughter loued him: 29And he was the more afrayde of Dauid, and Saul became alway Dauids enemie.

30The Lordes of the Philistines vsed to go foorth, and whe they went foorth Dauid behaued him selfe more wysely then all the seruauntes of Saul, so that his name was much set by.


Bishops' Bible of 1568

Section Headings Courtesy Berean Bible

1 Samuel 17
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