14. The Lord helped David, and he and his soldiers always won their battles.
15. This made Saul even more afraid of David.
16. But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal to David, because he led the army in battle.
17. One day, Saul told David, “If you'll be brave and fight the Lord's battles for me, I'll let you marry my eldest daughter Merab.” But Saul was really thinking, “I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me.”
18. David answered, “How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family.”
19. But when the time came for David to marry Saul's daughter Merab, Saul told her to marry Adriel from the town of Meholah.
20. Saul had another daughter. Her name was Michal, and Saul found out that she was in love with David. This made Saul happy,
21. and he thought, “I'll tell David he can marry Michal, but I'll set it up so that the Philistines will kill him.” He told David, “I'm going to give you a second chance to marry one of my daughters.”