¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

² Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

³ But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of Jehovah.

⁴ But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest upon the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

⁵ And the mariners were afraid, and cried every one unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to be lightened of them. But Jonah had gone down into the lower part of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

⁶ And the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, sleeper? arise, call upon thy God; perhaps God will think upon us, that we perish not.

⁷ And they said each one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

⁸ And they said unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us: what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

⁹ And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of the heavens, who hath made the sea and the dry [land].

¹⁰ Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this thou hast done? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of Jehovah: for he had told them.

¹¹ And they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

¹² And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that because of me this great tempest is upon you.

¹³ But the men rowed hard to regain the land; but they could not; for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

¹⁴ And they cried unto Jehovah and said, Ah, Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee.

¹⁵ And they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.

¹⁶ And the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows.

¹⁷ And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

¹² Jonathan said to David, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, [be witness]: when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, [or] the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send to you, and disclose it to you?

¹³ Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don't disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace: and Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.

¹⁴ You shall not only while yet I live show me the loving kindness of Yahweh, that I not die;

¹⁵ but also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever; no, not when Yahweh has cut off the enemies of David everyone from the surface of the earth."

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "Yahweh will require it at the hand of David's enemies."

¹⁷ Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

¹⁹ When you have stayed three days, you shall go down quickly, and come to the place where you did hide yourself when the business was in hand, and shall remain by the stone Ezel.

²⁰ I will shoot three arrows on its side, as though I shot at a mark.

²¹ Behold, I will send the boy, saying, 'Go, find the arrows!' If I tell the boy, 'Behold, the arrows are on this side of you. Take them;' then come; for there is peace to you and no hurt, as Yahweh lives.

²² But if I say this to the boy, 'Behold, the arrows are beyond you;' then go your way; for Yahweh has sent you away.

²³ Concerning the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold, Yahweh is between you and me forever."

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food.

²⁵ The king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was empty.

²⁶ Nevertheless Saul didn't say anything that day: for he thought, "Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean."

²⁷ It happened on the next day after the new moon, the second day, that David's place was empty. Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why doesn't the son of Jesse come to eat, neither yesterday, nor today?"

²⁸ Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹ He said, 'Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city. My brother has commanded me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers.' Therefore he has not come to the king's table."

³⁰ Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse rebellious woman, don't I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?

³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die!"

³² Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"

³³ Saul cast his spear at him to strike him. By this Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.

³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

³⁵ It happened in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy with him.

³⁶ He said to his boy, "Run, find now the arrows which I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷ When the boy was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the boy, and said, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?"

³⁸ Jonathan cried after the boy, "Go fast! Hurry! Don't delay!" Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.

³⁹ But the boy didn't know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

⁴⁰ Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to him, "Go, carry them to the city."

⁴¹ As soon as the boy was gone, David arose out of [a place] toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times. They kissed one another, and wept one with another, and David wept the most.

⁴² Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have both sworn in the name of Yahweh, saying, 'Yahweh shall be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed, forever.'" He arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.