Jonas 1

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonas the son of Amathi, saying,

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

2 Rise, and go to Nineve, the great city, and preach in it; for the cry of its wickedness is come up to me.

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

3 But Jonas rose up to flee to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid his fare, and went up into it, to sail with them to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord.

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.

4 And the Lord raised up a wind on the sea; and there was a great storm on the sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken.

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.

5 And the sailors were alarmed, and cried every one to his god, and cast out the wares that were in the ship into the sea, that it might be lightened of them. But Jonas was gone down into the hold of the ship, and was asleep, and snored.

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.

6 And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, Why snore you? arise, and call upon your God, that God may save us, and we perish not.

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.

7 And each man said to his neighbor, Come, let us cast lots, and find out for whose sake this mischief is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas.

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.

8 And they said to him, Tell us what is your occupation, and whence come you, and of what country and what people are you?

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?

9 And he said to them, I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea, and the dry [land].

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.

10 Then the men feared exceedingly, and said to him, What is this [that] you have done? for the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them.

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.

11 And they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea rose, and lifted its wave exceedingly.

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.

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

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.

13 And the men tried hard to return to the land, and were not able: for the sea rose and grew more and more tempestuous against them.

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.

14 And they cried to the Lord, and said, Forbid it, Lord: let us not perish for the sake of this man's life, and bring not righteous blood upon us: for you, Lord, have done as you would.

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.

15 So they took Jonas, and cast him out into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.

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

16 And the men feared the Lord very greatly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows.

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

17 Now the Lord had commanded a great whale to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.

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.