¹⁵ When Saul saw how successful David was, he became afraid of him. ¹⁶ But all the troops of Israel and Judah loved David. That’s because he led them in battle.

¹⁷ Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you to be your wife. Just serve me bravely and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul said to himself, “I won’t have to lift my hand to strike him down. The Philistines will do that!”