Jonah 1

1 The word of the Lord also came unto Jonah the son of 'Amitthai, saying,

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

2 Arise, Go unto Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against her; for their wickedness is come up before me.

“Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against it, because their wickedness has risen up before me.”

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tharshish from the presence of the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tharshish, and paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tharshish, from the presence of the Lord.

But Jonah got up to run away from the presence of Yahweh and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and boarded the ship to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of Yahweh.

4 But the Lord excited a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea; and it was thought that the ship would be broken in pieces.

But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea and it became a mighty storm on the sea. Soon it appeared that the ship was going to be broken up.

5 And the mariners were afraid, and called every man unto his god; and they cast forth the articles which were in the ship into the sea, to be lightened of them. But Jonah was gone down into the hold of the ship, and lay down, and was fast asleep.

Then the sailors became very afraid and each man cried out to his own god. They threw the ship's cargo into the sea to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was lying there deeply asleep.

6 So the ship-master came near unto him, and said unto him, Why dost thou sleep? arise, call upon thy God: perhaps it be that God will think of us, that we may not be lost.

So the captain came to him and said to him, “What are you doing sleeping? Get up! Call upon your god! Maybe your god will notice us and we will not perish.”

7 And they said one to the other, Come, and let us cast lots; that we may know for whose cause this evil hath happened unto us. And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

They all said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know who is the cause of this evil that is happening to us.” So they threw lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.

8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, thou for whose cause this evil hath happened unto us, What is thy business? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

Then they said to Jonah, “Please tell us who is the cause of this evil that is happening to us. What is your occupation, and where did you come from? What is your country, and from which people are you?”

9 And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.

Jonah said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.”

10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid and they said unto him, What is this thou hast done? for the men knew that he was flying from the presence of the Lord; because he had told them.

Then the men were even more afraid and said to Jonah, “What is this that you have done?” For the men knew that he was running away from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.

11 And they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may become calm around us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

Then they said to Jonah, “What should we do to you so that the sea will calm down for us?” For the sea became more and more violent.

12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea: so shall the sea be calm around you; for I know well that because of me is this great tempest upon you.

Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you, for I know that it is because of me that this great storm is happening to you.”

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring [the ship] back to the land; but they could not; for the sea grew more and more tempestuous around them.

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get them back to the land, but they could not do it because the sea was becoming more and more violent against them.

14 And they called unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, let us not be lost, we pray thee, for the life of this man, and lay not upon us [the guilt of] innocent blood; for thou art the Lord, as it pleaseth thee so dost thou do.

Therefore they cried out to Yahweh and said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, do not let us perish on account of this man's life, and do not lay upon us the guilt of his death, because you, Yahweh, have done just as it pleased you.”

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

So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging.

16 And the men feared the Lord very greatly; and they offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

Then the men feared Yahweh very much. They offered sacrifices to Yahweh and made vows.

17 And the Lord made ready a large fish to swallow up Jonah: and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Now Yahweh had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.