Jonah 1

1 And there is a word of YHWH to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,

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

2 “Rise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it that their wickedness has come up before 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 And Jonah rises to flee to Tarshish from the face of YHWH, and goes down [to] Joppa, and finds a ship going [to] Tarshish, and he gives its fare, and goes down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the face of YHWH.

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 YHWH has cast a great wind on the sea, and there is a great storm in the sea, and the ship has reckoned to be 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 mariners are afraid, and they each cry to his god, and cast the goods that [are] in the ship into the sea, to make [it] light of them; and Jonah has gone down to the sides of the vessel, and he lies down, and is fast asleep.

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 chief of the company draws near to him and says to him, “What are you [doing], O sleeper? Rise, call to your God, it may be God considers Himself of us, and we do not perish.”

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 they each say to his neighbor, “Come, and we cast lots, and we know on whose account this evil [is] on us.” And they cast lots, and the lot falls on Jonah.

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 say to him, “Now declare to us, on whose account [is] this evil on us? What [is] your occupation, and where do you come from? What [is] your country, seeing you are not of this people?”

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 says to them, “I—a Hebrew, and I fear YHWH, God of the heavens, 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 And the men fear a great fear, and say to him, “What [is] this you have done!” For the men have known that he is fleeing from the face of YHWH, for he has 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 say to him, “What do we do to you that the sea may cease from us, for the sea is more and more turbulent?”

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 he says to them, “Lift me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea ceases from you; for I know that on my account this great storm [is] on 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 row to turn back to the dry land, and are not able, for the sea is more and more turbulent 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 cry to YHWH, and say, “Ah, now, O YHWH, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not lay innocent blood on us! For You, YHWH, as You have pleased, You have done.”

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 And they lift up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceases 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 fear YHWH [with] a great fear, and sacrifice a sacrifice to YHWH, and vow 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 And YHWH appoints a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah is in the bowels of the fish 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.