1 Samuel 18:1-30 And whan he had made an ende of talkynge with Saul, the soule of Ionathas was bounde with the soule of Dauid, and Ionathas loued him as his owne soule.

Coverdale⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ And whan he had made an ende of talkynge with Saul, the soule of Ionathas was bounde with the soule of Dauid, and Ionathas loued him as his owne soule. ² And Saul toke him the same daye, and let him not go agayne to his fathers house. ³ And Ionathas and Dauid made a couenaunt together, for he loued him as his owne soule. ⁴ And Ionathas put of his owne cote that he had vpon him, and gaue it vnto Dauid: yee and his cloke, his swerde, his bowe, and his girdell. ⁵ And Dauid wente forth whither so euer Saul sent him, and behaued him selfe wysely. And Saul set him ouer the men of warre, and he pleased all the people well, and all the seruauntes of Saul. ⁶ It fortuned, that whan Dauid was come agayne from the slaughter of the Philistyne, the wemen wente out of all the cities of Israel with songes & daunses, to mete kynge Saul, with tymbrels, with myrth, and with fyddels. ⁷ And the wemen sange one to another, and played & sayde: Saul hath smytten his thousande: but Dauid his ten thousande. ⁸ Then was Saul very wroth, and yt worde displeased him sore, and he sayde: They haue ascrybed ten thousande vnto Dauid, and but one thousande vnto me: what shal he haue more but the kyngdome? ⁹ And from that daye forth, Saul loked sowerly vpo Dauid. ¹⁰ The nexte daye after came the euell sprete of God vpon Saul, and prophecyed in ye myddes of the house. But Dauid played on the instrumente with his hande, as he was wonte daylie. ¹¹ And Saul had a iauelynge in his hande, and cast it, and thoughte: I wyll stycke Dauid fast to the wall. Neuerthelesse Dauid turned himselfe twyse awaye from him. ¹² And Saul was afrayed of Dauid: for the LORDE was with him, and was departed from Saul. ¹³ Then Saul put him from him, and set him to be prynce ouer a thousande men, and he went out and in before the people. ¹⁴ And Dauid behaued himselfe wysely in all his doynges, and the LORDE was with him. ¹⁵ Now whan Saul sawe that he was so exceadynge wyse, he stode in feare of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Iuda loued Dauid, for he wente out and in before them. ¹⁷ And Saul sayde vnto Dauid: Beholde, my greatest doughter Merob wyl I geue the to wyfe: be stronge now, & gouerne the warres of the LORDE. For Saul thought: my hade shal not be vpon him, but the hande of ye Pilistynes ¹⁸ Neuertheles Dauid answered Saul: Who am I? & what is my life & the kynred of my father in Israel, that I shulde mary the kinges doughter? ¹⁹ But whan the tyme came, that Merob ye doughter of Saul shulde haue bene geue vnto Dauid, she was geuen vnto Adriel ye Meholathite to wyfe. ²⁰ Neuerthelesse Michol Sauls doughter loued Dauid. Whan this was tolde Saul, ye matter pleased him well, ²¹ & he sayde: I wyl geue him her, yt she maye be a snare vnto him, & that the handes of ye Philistynes maye come vpon him. And he sayde vnto Dauid: This daye shalt thou be my doughters husbade ye secode time. ²² And Saul spake vnto his seruautes: Talke wt Dauid secretly & saye: Beholde, the kinge hath pleasure in the, and all his seruauntes loue the, mary thou therfore the kynges doughter. ²³ And Sauls seruauntes spake these wordes in the eares of Dauid. But Dauid saide: Thynke ye it but a small matter, to mary the kynges doughter? As for me, I am but a poore symple man. ²⁴ And Sauls seruauntes tolde him agayne, and sayde: Soch wordes hath Dauid spoken. ²⁵ Saul sayde: Then saye ye vnto Dauid: The kynge desyreth no dowry, but onely an hundreth foreskynnes of the Philistynes, that vengeaunce maye be taken of the kinges enemies. Howbeit Saul thought to cause Dauid be slayne by the hades of the Philistynes. ²⁶ Then his seruauntes tolde Dauid these wordes, and Dauid was contente with the matter, to mary the kynges doughter. ²⁷ And after a fewe dayes Dauid gatt him vp, and wente with his men, and smote two hundreth men amonge the Philistynes. And Dauid broughte their foreskynnes, and made their nombre sufficient vnto the kynge, yt he mighte mary the kynges doughter. The Saul gaue him his doughter Michol to wyfe. ²⁸ And Saul sawe and perceaued, that the LORDE was wt Dauid. And Michol Sauls doughter loued him. ²⁹ Then was Saul the more afrayed, and became his enemye as loge as he lyued. ³⁰ And whan the prynces of the Philistynes wete forth, Dauid behaued him selfe more wysely then all the seruauntes of Saul in their outgoynge: so that his name was in greate reputacion.