1 Kwakati Dafite asinopedza lebeleka na Saulo, meya dza Jonatani na Dafite dzikawililana, Jonatani kada Dafite sekwa ezwida. 2 Kudwa zhuba ilelo Saulo katola Dafite kagala naye, kasitjan'dumile kubgwilila ku nzi wa tate babe. 3 Ndizo Jonatani kathama tjidumano na Dafite, ngobe akabe en'da sekwa ezwida. 4 Jonatani kaambula tjiambalo tjaakabe akaambala katjipa Dafite, kampilanya ne zwiambalo zwizwe zwe ngwa, nenge bukanu gugwe ne dati le nsebe ne mwandabula uwe. 5 Tjimwe ne tjimwe tjaakabe etumwa ndi Saulo kutjithama, Dafite wakabe etjitubula, ndizo Saulo kampa mamo apezhugwi mu ngwa. Ikoku kukashathisa bathu bose ne makulukota a Saulo dumbu.
6 Kwakati bathu babgwilila ku nzi, Dafite asinobulaya Nfilisitiya, bakadzi bakabhuda mu mizi yose ye Iziraela, beshanganidza Mambo Saulo bemba bezana, bemba njimbo dze shatho, belidza thamborini ne laya. 7 Bakabe bezana bemba beti, “Saulo wakabulaya zwiwulu (1 000) zwizwe, ngono Dafite kabulaya zwizwe zwiwulu zwili gumi (10 000).” 8 Saulo wakazhala bushongola kwazo, ngobe matama iyawa, akankutha. Kabe eti, “Dafite bampa tjiala tje zwiwulu zwili gumi (10 000), koga imi bendipa tjiala tje tjiwulu (1 000) koga, apa ini tjansalila, akusi kutola mbuso?” 9 Kudwa ipapo kuyenda mbeli, Saulo katjila nge lubengo kuna Dafite.
10 Kwakati tjimuka meya mibi inodwa ku Ndzimu ikadelukila muna Saulo nge masimba, ikampengesa ali mu ng'umba iye, Dafite elidza harepa sekwa agala ethama mazhuba wose. Saulo wakabe akabhata thumo lile nge luboko. 11 Ngono Saulo kaposa thumo kazwidwa eti, “Ndowobhayila Dafite mu guma.” Koga Dafite kandzeta kabili kose. 12 Saulo wakabe etja Dafite, ngobe Yahwe bakabe bana Dafite, bafupatila Saulo. 13 Ndizo Saulo katata Dafite panli, kanthama nlauli we balume bali tjiwulu (1 000), ngono Dafite kayenda, kanobuya akatungamila bathu. 14 Dafite wakabe etubula muna zose zwaakabe eshinga, ngobe Yahwe bakabe banaye. 15 Kukati Saulo ebona sekwa Dafite etubula ndiko, kantja. 16 Koga Baiziraela ne Bajuda bose bakabe beda Dafite, ngobe akabe ebatungamila mu ngwa dzabo.
Dafite unolobola nkololokadzi wa Saulo
17 Ndizo Saulo kadwa Dafite kati, “Nkololokadzi wangu we mbano Merabhu woyu, ndowokupa iye kabe nkadzi uwo, undishingile nge tjilopa tjakasima kubhayana ngwa dza Yahwe.” Ngobe Saulo wakazwidwa eti, “Anditowommilidzila luboko, Bafilisitiya ndibo banowombulaya.” 18 Dafite kadwa Saulo kati, “Imi ndiani, ne ng'umba ya tate bangu ini, kene nsha wa tate bangu uni mu Iziraela, kwandingadzina abe nkwasha wa mambo kene?” 19 Koga kwakati kwatjibe tjibaka tje kuti nkololokadzi wa Saulo Merebhu apiwe Dafite kunlobola, kapiwa Adiriele we Mehola kuti abe nkadzi uwe.
20 Ipapo nkololokadzi wa Saulo unoyi Mikhali kada Dafite, Saulo kati ebudziwa ngekwako, kukanshathisa. 21 Saulo kazwidwa kati, “Ndowompa iye, ndiye wandinoshingisa kumbhata, kuti Bafilisitiya bambulaye.” Ipapo Saulo kadwa Dafite kati, “Ngwenu wawana zila ye bubili kube nkwasha wangu.” 22 Saulo kadwa balanda babe kati, “Lebelekani na Dafite mu ikohwa mun'dwe muti, ‘Bona mambo bakakushathila, ne balanda babo bose banokuda, ngwenu tjibe nkwasha wa mambo.’ ”
23 Balanda bakabgwilulula matama iyawa kuna Dafite. Ngono Dafite kabadwa kati, “Apa mokumbula kuti kuthu kutukununu kube nkwasha wa mambo kene? Bonani ndi nlume we nshayi usina tjilumbi.”
24 Kukati balanda ba Saulo bembudza tjalebgwa ndi Dafite, 25 Saulo kashandula eti, “Mudwe Dafite muti, ‘Mambo akuna tjabanoyemula tje malobolo, kuzhe kwe zana ling'ompela (100) le zwikanda zwa mbeli zwe Bafilisitiya, kuli kuzwibgwilizila kwa mambo mu zwita zwabo.’ ” Saulo eluka maano kuti Dafite abulawe nge Bafilisitiya. 26 Kwakati balanda ba Saulo bebudza Dafite matama iyawa, kashathila kube nkwasha wa mambo. Tjibaka tje gobe tjitjaduma. 27 Dafite kamilika ne bathu babe kanobulaya Bafilisitiya bali mazana mabili (200), kabuya ne zwikanda zwabo zwa mbeli, kazwipa mambo zwili mbalo izhele, kuti ndizo abe nkwasha wa mambo. Saulo kapa Dafite Mikhali nkololokadzi uwe kuti anlobole.
28 Kwakati Saulo asinobona kuti Yahwe bana Dafite, ne kuti nkololokadzi uwe Mikhali unon'da, 29 Saulo kadwilila etja Dafite kupinda, kabe tjita tja Dafite misi yose ye butjilo gugwe. 30 Balauli be babhayani be Bafilisitiya bakadwilila bebhuda beyenda ku ngwa, ngono bakabe beti bebhuda, Dafite kabe ne kutubula kupinda makulukota wose a Saulo, ndizo kabe ne tjilumbi tjikulu kwazo.
1 David and Saul finished talking, and soon David and Jonathan became best friends. Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself. 2 From that time on, Saul kept David in his service and would not let David go back to his own family.
3 Jonathan liked David so much that they promised to always be loyal friends. 4 Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes, his sword, his bow and arrows, and his belt.
5 David was a success in everything that Saul sent him to do, and Saul made him a high officer in his army. That pleased everyone, including Saul's other officers.
Saul Becomes David's Enemy
6 David had killed Goliath, the battle was over, and the Israelite army set out for home. As the army went along, women came out of each Israelite town to welcome King Saul. They were celebrating by singing songs and dancing to the music of tambourines and harps. 7 They sang:
Saul has killed
a thousand enemies;
David has killed
ten thousand!
8 This song made Saul very angry, and he thought, “They are saying that David has killed ten times more enemies than I ever did. Next they will want to make him king.” 9 Saul never again trusted David.
10 The next day the Lord let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a crazy man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand. 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.”
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 of 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 100 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 200 Philistines. David brought back the proof that Saul had demanded and showed it to him, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. 28 King 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.