1 Samuel 18
Open in the reader1After Beloved had finished speaking with Asked-For, the souls of He-Who-Is-Has-Given and Beloved were knit together, and He-Who-Is-Has-Given loved him as himself.
2And from that day Asked-For kept Beloved with him and did not let him return to his father’s house.
3Then He-Who-Is-Has-Given made a covenant with Beloved because he loved him as himself.
4And He-Who-Is-Has-Given removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to Beloved, along with his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.
5So Beloved marched out and prospered in everything Asked-For sent him to do, and Asked-For set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Asked-For’s officers as well.
6As the troops were returning home after Beloved had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Strives-with-God to meet King Asked-For with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments.
7And as the women danced, they sang out: “Asked-For has slain his thousands, and Beloved his tens of thousands.”
8And Asked-For was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to Beloved,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?”
9And from that day forward Asked-For kept a jealous eye on Beloved.
10The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Asked-For, and he prophesied inside the house while Beloved played the harp as usual. Now Asked-For was holding a spear,
11and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin Beloved to the wall.” But Beloved eluded him twice.
12So Asked-For was afraid of Beloved, because He-Who-Is was with Beloved but had departed from Asked-For.
13Therefore Asked-For sent Beloved away and gave him command of a thousand men. Beloved led the troops out to battle and back,
14and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because He-Who-Is was with him.
15When Asked-For saw that Beloved was very successful, he was afraid of him.
16But all Strives-with-God and Praised loved Beloved, because he was leading them out to battle and back.
17Then Asked-For said to Beloved, “Here is my older daughter Increase. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight He-Who-Is’s battles.” But Asked-For was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
18And Beloved said to Asked-For, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Strives-with-God, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?”
19So when it was time to give Asked-For’s daughter Increase to Beloved, she was given in marriage to Flock-of-God of Meholah.
20Now Asked-For’s daughter Brook loved Beloved, and when this was reported to Asked-For, it pleased him.
21“I will give her to Beloved,” Asked-For thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Asked-For said to Beloved, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”
22Then Asked-For ordered his servants, “Speak to Beloved privately and tell him, ‘Behold, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become his son-in-law.’”
23But when Asked-For’s servants relayed these words to Beloved, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.”
24And the servants told Asked-For what Beloved had said.
25Asked-For replied, “Say to Beloved, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Asked-For intended to cause Beloved’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
26When the servants reported these terms to Beloved, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,
27Beloved and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Asked-For gave his daughter Brook to Beloved in marriage.
28When Asked-For realized that He-Who-Is was with Beloved and that his daughter Brook loved Beloved,
29he grew even more afraid of Beloved. So from then on Asked-For was Beloved’s enemy.
30Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, Beloved was more successful than all of Asked-For’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed.