11 Saul thought, “I'll pin David to the wall.” He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was helping David and was no longer helping him.
13 Saul put David in charge of 1,000 soldiers and sent him out to fight.
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 oldest 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.”