Jonah 1

1 [One day] Yahweh said to [the prophet] Jonah, the son of Amittai,

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

2 “I have [seen] how wicked [the people of] [MTY] the great city of Nineveh are. Therefore go there and warn the people that [I am planning to] destroy their city [because of their sins].”

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

3 But [instead of going to Nineveh], Jonah [went in the direction] opposite to where Yahweh [told him to go]. He went down to Joppa [city]. There he bought a ticket to travel on a ship that was going to Tarshish [city], in order to avoid [doing what] Yahweh [told him to do]. [He got on the ship, ] and [then went down] to a lower deck, [lay down, and went to sleep].

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 Then Yahweh caused a very strong wind to blow, and there was such a violent storm that [the sailors thought] the ship would break apart.

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

5 The sailors were very frightened. Because of that, they each [started to] pray to their own gods [to save them]. Then they threw the cargo into the sea to make the ship lighter [in order that it would not sink easily].

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 Then the captain went [down] to where Jonah was sleeping soundly. [He awoke him] and said [to him], “(How can you sleep [during a storm like this]?/You should not be sleeping [during a storm like this]) [RHQ]! Get up and pray to your god! Perhaps he will pity us and save us, in order that we will not drown!” [But Jonah refused to do that].

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 Then the sailors said to each other, “We need to (cast lots/shake from a container small objects that we have all marked), to determine who has caused [all] this trouble!” So they did that, and [the object with] Jonah’s mark fell out [of the container].

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 So [various ones of] them asked him, “Are you the one who has caused us all this trouble?” “What work do you do?” “Where are you [coming] from?” “What country and what people-group do you belong to?”

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 Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh God, who [lives in] heaven. He is the one who made the sea and the land. I am trying to escape from [doing what] Yahweh [told me to do].”

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

10 After the sailors heard that, they were terrified. So they asked him, “Do you realize what [trouble] you have caused?”

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 The [storm kept getting worse and] the waves kept getting bigger. So [one of] the sailors asked Jonah, “What should we do in order to make the sea become calm?”

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

12 He replied, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. [If you do that], it will become calm. I know that this terrible storm is the result of my [not doing what Yahweh told me to do].”

“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 But the sailors did [not want to do that]. [Instead], they tried hard to row the ship back to the land. But they could not [do that], because the storm continued to get worse.

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 Therefore they prayed to Yahweh, and [one of them] prayed, “O Yahweh, please do not let us drown because of our causing this man to die. O Yahweh, you have done what you wanted to do. [We do not know if this man has sinned. If] he has not sinned, do not consider that we are guilty of sinning when we cause him to die!”

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 Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. Then the sea became calm.

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

16 [When that happened], the sailors became greatly awed at Yahweh’s [power]. So they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and they strongly promised [him that they would do things that would please him].

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

17 [While they were doing that, ] Yahweh sent a huge fish that swallowed Jonah. Then Jonah was inside the fish for 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.