Jonah 1

1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jonah son of Amittai, saying:

The Lord spoke to Jonah the son of Amittai, telling him,

2 'Rise, go unto Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it that their wickedness hath come up before Me.'

“Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and condemn it because I have seen the wickedness of its people.”

3 And Jonah riseth to flee to Tarshish from the face of Jehovah, and goeth down [to] Joppa, and findeth a ship going [to] Tarshish, and he giveth its fare, and goeth down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the face of Jehovah.

But Jonah left and ran away to Tarshish to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board to sail to Tarshish in order to get away from the Lord.

4 And Jehovah hath cast a great wind on the sea, and there is a great tempest in the sea, and the ship hath reckoned to be broken;

But the Lord sent a terrible wind across the sea, creating a violent storm that threatened to break up the ship.

5 and the mariners are afraid, and cry each unto his god, and cast the goods that [are] in the ship into the sea, to make [it] light of them; and Jonah hath gone down unto the sides of the vessel, and he lieth down, and is fast asleep.

The sailors were terrified and each of them prayed to their own god to save them. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold where he had laid down and fallen fast asleep.

6 And the chief of the company draweth near to him, and saith to him, 'What — to thee, O sleeper? rise, call unto thy God, it may be God doth bethink himself of us, and we do not perish.'

The ship's captain went to Jonah and asked him, “How can you be sleeping? Get up and pray to your God. Maybe he will take notice of what's happening to us and we won't drown.”

7 And they say each unto his neighbour, 'Come, and we cast lots, and we know on whose account this evil [is] on us.' And they cast lots, and the lot falleth on Jonah.

Then the sailors said to each other, “Let's draw lots so we can find out who's to blame for this disaster that's fallen on us.” They drew lots and Jonah's name was came up.

8 And they say unto him, 'Declare to us, we pray thee, on what account this evil [is] on us? what [is] thine occupation, and whence comest thou? what [is] thy country, seeing thou art not of this people?'

So they asked him, “Tell us who is responsible for this trouble that we're in. What do you do for a living? Where are you from? What is your country? What is your nationality?”

9 And he saith unto them, 'A Hebrew I [am], and Jehovah, God of the heavens, I am reverencing, who made the sea and the dry land.'

“I am a Hebrew,” Jonah replied, “and I worship the Lord, the God of the heavens, the sea, and the land.”

10 And the men fear a great fear, and say unto him, 'What [is] this thou hast done!' for the men have known that from the face of Jehovah he is fleeing, for he hath told them.

The sailors became even more terrified and said to Jonah, “What have you done?” because Jonah had explained to them that he was running away from the Lord.

11 And they say unto him, 'What do we do to thee that the sea may cease from us, for the sea is more and more tempestuous?'

“What shall we do to you to calm the storm?” they asked him, since the storm was getting worse.

12 And he saith unto them, 'Lift me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea doth cease from you; for I know that on my account this great tempest [is] upon you.'

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” Jonah replied. “Then the sea will become calm, because I know it's because of me that you're in this terrible storm.”

13 And the men row to turn back unto the dry land, and are not able, for the sea is more and more tempestuous against them.

Instead the sailors tried to row to get back to the shore, but they couldn't because the sea had become so wild from the worsening storm.

14 And they cry unto Jehovah, and say, 'We pray Thee, O Jehovah, let us not, we pray Thee, perish for this man's life, and do not lay on us innocent blood, for Thou, Jehovah, as Thou hast pleased, Thou hast done.'

Then they called out to the Lord, “Lord! Please don't kill us for sacrificing this man's life or for spilling innocent blood, for you, Lord, made it happen.”

15 And they lift up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceaseth from its raging;

So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it became calm.

16 and the men fear Jehovah — a great fear, and sacrifice a sacrifice to Jehovah, and vow vows.

The sailors were overcome with fear. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made many promises to him.

17 And Jehovah appointeth a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish three days and three nights.

The Lord sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish.