Jonah 1

1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying:

Now the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2 Rise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it. For its malice has ascended before my eyes.

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.

3 And Jonah rose in order to flee from the face of the Lord to Tarshish. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. And he paid its fare, and he went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish from the face of the Lord.

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

4 But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea. And a great tempest took place in the sea, and the ship was in danger of being crushed.

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

5 And the mariners were afraid, and the men cried out to their god. And they threw the containers that were in the ship into the sea in order to lighten it of them. And Jonah went down into the interior of the ship, and he fell into a painful deep sleep.

Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man to his god. And they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it to them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6 And the helmsman approached him, and he said to him, “Why are you weighed down with sleep? Rise, call upon your God, so perhaps God will be mindful of us and we might not perish.”

So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, What do thou mean, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we not perish.

7 And a man said to his shipmate, “Come, and let us cast lots, so that we may know why this disaster is upon us.” And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

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

8 And they said to him: “Explain to us what is the reason that this disaster is upon us. What is your work? Which is your country? And where are you going? Or which people are you from?”

Then they said to him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And from where do thou come? What is thy country, and of what people are thou?

9 And he said to them, “I am Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.

10 And the men were greatly afraid, and they said to him, “Why have you done this?” (For the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them.)

Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that thou have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.

11 And they said to him, “What are we to do with you, so that the sea will cease for us?” For the sea flowed and swelled.

Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

12 And he said to them, “Take me, and cast me into the sea, and the sea will cease for you. For I know that it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

And he said to them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm to you. For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

13 And the men were rowing, so as to return to dry land, but they did not succeed. For the sea flowed and swelled against them.

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get themselves back to the land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

14 And they cried out to the Lord, and they said, “We beseech you, Lord, do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not attribute to us innocent blood. For you, Lord, have done just as it pleased you.”

Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, O Jehovah, have done as it pleased thee.

15 And they took Jonah and cast him into the sea. And the sea was stilled from its fury.

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

16 And the men feared the Lord greatly, and they sacrificed victims to the Lord, and they made vows.

Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows.

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

And Jehovah prepared a great sea creature to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the sea creature three days and three nights.