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

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

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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Hebrew, and I fear the Lord 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 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.)

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 with you, so that the sea will cease for us?” For the sea flowed and swelled.

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, 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 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 rowing, so as to return to dry land, but they did not succeed. For the sea flowed and swelled 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 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 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 And they took Jonah and cast him into the sea. And the sea was stilled from its fury.

And they lift up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceaseth 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 fear Jehovah — a great fear, and sacrifice a sacrifice to Jehovah, and vow 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 appointeth a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish three days and three nights.