Jonah 1

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

This message from the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai:

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

‘Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness is known to 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 started to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

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 the Lord made a furious wind blow over the sea, and there was such a great storm that the ship was in danger of breaking to pieces.

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.

The sailors were terrified and each cried for help to his own god. They threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to make the ship lighter. Meanwhile Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship and lay 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.”

The captain of the ship went and said to him, ‘How can you sleep? Call on your god; perhaps that god will think of us, so that we may not be lost.’

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.

The sailors said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots to discover on whose account this evil has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot indicated 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?”

So they said to him, ‘Are you to blame for this? Tell us, what is your business, and where do you come from? What is your country and to what people do you belong?’

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.”

He replied, ‘I am a Hebrew, and a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who 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 the men were greatly frightened and said to him, ‘What have you done?’ For they knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because 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.

Then they said to him, ‘What should we do to you, to make the sea calm for us?’ For the sea grew more and more stormy.

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.”

He said to them, ‘Take me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be calm for you, for I know that it is because of me this fierce storm has overtaken 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 instead the men rowed hard to get back to the land; they could not, however, for the sea grew more and more stormy ahead.

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.”

So they cried to the Lord and said, ‘We beg you, Lord, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t let us be guilty of shedding innocent blood, for you are the Lord; you have done as it pleases you.’

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 threw him into the sea; and the sea became calm.

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

Then the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice and made vows to him.

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.

But the Lord arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.