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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.”

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 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.

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?

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?”

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 Hebrew, and I fear the Lord 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 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.)

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

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, 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.”

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 rowing, so as to return to dry land, but they did not succeed. For the sea flowed and swelled 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.

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.”

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

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

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

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

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