Jonas 1

1 Og Herrens Ord kom til Jonas, Amithajs Søn, saa lydende:

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

2 Gør dig rede, gak til Ninive, den store Stad, og raab over den; thi deres Ondskab er stegen op for mit Ansigt.

“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].”

3 Men Jonas gjorde sig rede for at fly til Tharsis fra Herrens Ansigt; og han drog ned til Jafo og fandt et Skib, som vilde fare til Tharsis, og han gav Fragt derfor og gik om Bord for at fare med dem til Tharsis fra Herrens Ansigt.

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].

4 Men Herren kastede et stort Vejr paa Havet, og der blev en stor Storm paa Havet, og Skibet lod til at skulle sønderbrydes.

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.

5 Og Skibsfolkene frygtede, og de raabte hver til sin Gud, og de kastede Redskaberne, som vare udi Skibet, i Havet for at skaffe sig Lettelse; men Jonas var stegen ned i det nederste Skibsrum og laa og sov hart.

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].

6 Men Styrmanden gik til ham og sagde til ham: Hvorledes kan du sove saa hart? staa op, kald paa din Gud, maaske den Gud vil tænke mildelig paa os, at vi ikke forgaa.

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].

7 Og de sagde, den ene til den anden: Kommer, og lader os kaste Lod, at vi kunne faa at vide, for hvis Skyld denne Ulykke hændes os; og de kastede Lod, og Lodden faldt paa Jonas.

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].

8 Da sagde de til ham: Kundgør os dog, for hvis Skyld denne Ulykke hændes os! hvad er din Bestilling? og hvorfra kommer du? hvilket er dit Land? og af hvad Folk er du?

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?”

9 Og han sagde til dem: Jeg er en Hebræer, og jeg frygter Herren, Himmelens Gud, som har skabt Havet og det tørre Land.

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].”

10 Da grebes Mændene af en stor Frygt, og de sagde til ham: Hvad har du dog gjort? thi Mændene havde faaet at vide, at han flyede fra Herrens Ansigt, thi han havde kundgjort dem det.

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

11 Og de sagde til ham: Hvad skulle vi gøre dig, at Havet kan stilles for os? thi Havet vedblev at storme mere og mere.

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?”

12 Og han sagde til dem: Tager mig, og kaster mig i Havet, saa stilles Havet for eder; thi jeg ved, at denne store Storm er over eder for min Skyld.

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].”

13 Og Mændene roede for at naa tilbage til Land, men de kunde ikke; thi Havet vedblev at storme imod dem mere og mere.

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.

14 Da raabte de til Herren og sagde: Ak, Herre! lad os dog ikke omkomme for denne Mands Sjæls Skyld, og læg ikke uskyldigt Blod paa os; thi du, Herre! har gjort, som det behagede dig.

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!”

15 Og de toge Jonas og kastede ham i Havet; da blev Havet stille efter sin heftige Brusen.

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

16 Og Mændene frygtede Herren med en stor Frygt, og de ofrede Herren Slagtoffer og gjorde Løfter.

[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].

17 Og Herren beskikkede en stor Fisk til at opsluge Jonas, og Jonas var i Fiskens Bug tre Dage og tre Nætter.

[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.