Jonah 1

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

La parole de l’Eternel fut adressée à Jonas, fils d’Amittaï, en ces termes:

2 Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me.

"Lève-toi! Va à Ninive, la grande ville, et prophétise contre elle; car leur iniquité est arrivée jusqu’à moi."

3 And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.

Mais Jonas se leva pour fuir à Tarsis, hors de la présence de l’Eternel; il se rendit à Jaffa, où il trouva un vaisseau en partance pour Tarsis. II paya le passage et s’y embarqua pour aller avec eux à Tarsis, loin de la présence de l’Eternel.

4 And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken.

Or, l’Eternel suscita un vent violent sur la mer et une grande tempête s’y éleva; le vaisseau pensa se briser.

5 Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep.

Les matelots prirent peur, et chacun d’invoquer son Dieu. Ils jetèrent à la mer les objets qui se trouvaient sur le vaisseau afin de l’alléger. Pour Jonas, il était descendu au fond du navire, s’y était couché et profondément endormi.

6 And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction.

Le commandant de l’équipage s’approcha de lui et lui dit: "Que fais-tu là, dormeur? Debout! Invoque ton Dieu, peut-être ce Dieu-là s’ingéniera-t-il en notre faveur, de sorte que nous ne périrons pas."

7 And they said to one another, Come, let us put this to the decision of chance and see on whose account this evil has come on us. So they did so, and Jonah was seen to be the man.

Cependant les matelots se disaient l’un à l’autre: "Voyons, tirons au sort, afin de connaître celui qui nous attire ce malheur." Ils tirèrent au sort, et le sort désigna Jonas.

8 Then they said to him, Now make clear to us what is your work, and where you come from? what is your country, and who are your people?

Ils lui dirent: Apprends-nous donc puisque c’est toi qui nous attires ce malheur quelle est ta profession et d’où tu viens; quel est ton pays et à quel peuple tu appartiens."

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

Il leur répondit: "Je suis Hébreu; j’adore l’Eternel, Dieu du ciel, qui a créé la mer et la terre ferme."

10 And the men were in great fear, and they said to him, What is this you have done? For the men had knowledge of his flight from the Lord because he had not kept it from them.

Ces hommes, saisis d’une grande terreur, lui dirent: "Qu’as-tu fait là!" Car ils surent alors qu’il s’enfuyait de devant l’Eternel, Jonas le leur ayant appris.

11 And they said to him, What are we to do to you so that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was getting rougher and rougher.

Ils ajoutèrent: "Que devons-nous faire de toi pour que la mer se calme autour de nous? Car la mer devient de plus en plus furieuse."

12 And he said to them, Take me up and put me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you: for I am certain that because of me this great storm has come on you.

Il leur répondit: "Prenez-moi et jetez-moi à la mer, vous la verrez s’apaiser, car je reconnais que c’est par mon fait que vous essuyez cette violente tempête."

13 And the men were working hard to get back to the land, but they were not able to do so: for the sea got rougher and rougher against them.

Ces hommes firent force de rames pour regagner la côte, mais ils ne purent, tant la mer orageuse continuait à les assaillir!

14 So, crying to the Lord, they said, Give ear to our prayer, O Lord, give ear, and do not let destruction overtake us because of this man's life; do not put on us the sin of taking life without cause: for you, O Lord, have done what seemed good to you.

Ils invoquèrent donc l’Eternel en disant: "De grâce, ô Eternel, ne nous fais point périr à cause de cet homme, et ne fais pas retomber sur nous le sang innocent! Car c’est toi-même qui as fait ce que tu as voulu."

15 So they took Jonah up and put him into the sea: and the sea was no longer angry.

Puis ils saisirent Jonas et le jetèrent à la mer. Aussitôt la fureur de la mer se calma.

16 Then great was the men's fear of the Lord; and they made an offering to the Lord and took oaths to him.

Et ces hommes conçurent une vénération profonde pour l’Eternel; ils lui offrirent des sacrifices et firent des vœux en son honneur.

17 And the Lord made ready a great fish to take Jonah into its mouth; and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

L’Eternel suscita un énorme poisson, qui engloutit Jonas; celui-ci resta dans les entrailles du poisson trois jours et trois nuits.