Jonah 1

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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?

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?'

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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?'

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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

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

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

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

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.

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