1 Samuel 18:16-18

Easy-to-Read Version

¹⁶ But all the people in Israel and Judah loved David because he was out among them and led them into battle.

Saul Wants His Daughter to Marry David

¹⁷ One day Saul said to David, “Here is my oldest daughter, Merab. I will let you marry her. Then you will be like a son to me and you will be a real soldier.^[a] Then you will go and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul was really thinking, “Now I won’t have to kill David. I will let the Philistines kill him for me.”

¹⁸ But David said, “I am not an important man from an important family. I can’t marry the king’s daughter.”