Jonah 1

1 The Lord spoke to Jonah the son of Amittai, telling him,

Now the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2 “Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and condemn it because I have seen the wickedness of its people.”

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.

3 But Jonah left and ran away to Tarshish to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board to sail to Tarshish in order to get away from the Lord.

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

4 But the Lord sent a terrible wind across the sea, creating a violent storm that threatened to break up the ship.

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

5 The sailors were terrified and each of them prayed to their own god to save them. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold where he had laid down and fallen fast asleep.

Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man to his god. And they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it to them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6 The ship's captain went to Jonah and asked him, “How can you be sleeping? Get up and pray to your God. Maybe he will take notice of what's happening to us and we won't drown.”

So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, What do thou mean, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we not perish.

7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Let's draw lots so we can find out who's to blame for this disaster that's fallen on us.” They drew lots and Jonah's name was came up.

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

8 So they asked him, “Tell us who is responsible for this trouble that we're in. What do you do for a living? Where are you from? What is your country? What is your nationality?”

Then they said to him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And from where do thou come? What is thy country, and of what people are thou?

9 “I am a Hebrew,” Jonah replied, “and I worship the Lord, the God of the heavens, the sea, and the land.”

And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.

10 The sailors became even more terrified and said to Jonah, “What have you done?” because Jonah had explained to them that he was running away from the Lord.

Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that thou have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.

11 “What shall we do to you to calm the storm?” they asked him, since the storm was getting worse.

Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” Jonah replied. “Then the sea will become calm, because I know it's because of me that you're in this terrible storm.”

And he said to them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm to you. For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

13 Instead the sailors tried to row to get back to the shore, but they couldn't because the sea had become so wild from the worsening storm.

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get themselves back to the land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

14 Then they called out to the Lord, “Lord! Please don't kill us for sacrificing this man's life or for spilling innocent blood, for you, Lord, made it happen.”

Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, O Jehovah, have done as it pleased thee.

15 So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it became calm.

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

16 The sailors were overcome with fear. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made many promises to him.

Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows.

17 The Lord sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish.

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