Jonah 1

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

And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2 Rise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it. For its malice has ascended before my eyes.

Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

3 And Jonah rose in order to flee from the face of the Lord to Tarshish. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. And he paid its fare, and he went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish from the face of the Lord.

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of Jehovah.

4 But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea. And a great tempest took place in the sea, and the ship was in danger of being crushed.

But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest upon the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

5 And the mariners were afraid, and the men cried out to their god. And they threw the containers that were in the ship into the sea in order to lighten it of them. And Jonah went down into the interior of the ship, and he fell into a painful deep sleep.

And the mariners were afraid, and cried every one unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to be lightened of them. But Jonah had gone down into the lower part of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6 And the helmsman approached him, and he said to him, “Why are you weighed down with sleep? Rise, call upon your God, so perhaps God will be mindful of us and we might not perish.”

And the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, sleeper? arise, call upon thy God; perhaps God will think upon us, that we perish not.

7 And a man said to his shipmate, “Come, and let us cast lots, so that we may know why this disaster is upon us.” And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

And they said each one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

8 And they said to him: “Explain to us what is the reason that this disaster is upon us. What is your work? Which is your country? And where are you going? Or which people are you from?”

And they said unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us: what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

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

And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of the heavens, who hath made the sea and the dry [land].

10 And the men were greatly afraid, and they said to him, “Why have you done this?” (For the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them.)

Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this thou hast done? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of Jehovah: for he had told them.

11 And they said to him, “What are we to do with you, so that the sea will cease for us?” For the sea flowed and swelled.

And they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

12 And he said to them, “Take me, and cast me into the sea, and the sea will cease for you. For I know that it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that because of me this great tempest is upon you.

13 And the men were rowing, so as to return to dry land, but they did not succeed. For the sea flowed and swelled against them.

But the men rowed hard to regain the land; but they could not; for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

14 And they cried out to the Lord, and they said, “We beseech you, Lord, do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not attribute to us innocent blood. For you, Lord, have done just as it pleased you.”

And they cried unto Jehovah and said, Ah, Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee.

15 And they took Jonah and cast him into the sea. And the sea was stilled from its fury.

And they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.

16 And the men feared the Lord greatly, and they sacrificed victims to the Lord, and they made vows.

And the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows.

17 And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.