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.”
22-23. Saul ordered his officials to speak to David in private, so they went to David and said, “Look, the king likes you, and all his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you can marry his daughter Michal?”“I'm not rich or famous enough to marry princess Michal!” David answered.
24. The officials went back to Saul and told him exactly what David had said.
25. Saul was hoping that the Philistines would kill David, and he told his officials to tell David, “The king doesn't want any silver or gold. He only wants to get even with his enemies. All you have to do is to bring back proof that you have killed a hundred Philistines!”
26. The officials told David, and David wanted to marry the princess.King Saul had set a time limit, and before it ran out,
27. David and his men left and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought back the proof and showed it to Saul, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal.
28. Saul knew that she loved David, and he also realized that the Lord was helping David.
29. But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life.
30. The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers.