Jonah 1

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

[One day] Yahweh said to [the prophet] Jonah, the son of Amittai,

2 “Rise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim against it that their wickedness has come up before Me.”

“I have [seen] how wicked [the people of] [MTY] the great city of Nineveh are. Therefore go there and warn the people that [I am planning to] destroy their city [because of their sins].”

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.

But [instead of going to Nineveh], Jonah [went in the direction] opposite to where Yahweh [told him to go]. He went down to Joppa [city]. There he bought a ticket to travel on a ship that was going to Tarshish [city], in order to avoid [doing what] Yahweh [told him to do]. [He got on the ship, ] and [then went down] to a lower deck, [lay down, and went to sleep].

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;

Then Yahweh caused a very strong wind to blow, and there was such a violent storm that [the sailors thought] the ship would break apart.

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.

The sailors were very frightened. Because of that, they each [started to] pray to their own gods [to save them]. Then they threw the cargo into the sea to make the ship lighter [in order that it would not sink easily].

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.”

Then the captain went [down] to where Jonah was sleeping soundly. [He awoke him] and said [to him], “(How can you sleep [during a storm like this]?/You should not be sleeping [during a storm like this]) [RHQ]! Get up and pray to your god! Perhaps he will pity us and save us, in order that we will not drown!” [But Jonah refused to do that].

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.

Then the sailors said to each other, “We need to (cast lots/shake from a container small objects that we have all marked), to determine who has caused [all] this trouble!” So they did that, and [the object with] Jonah’s mark fell out [of the container].

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?”

So [various ones of] them asked him, “Are you the one who has caused us all this trouble?” “What work do you do?” “Where are you [coming] from?” “What country and what people-group do you belong to?”

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.”

Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh God, who [lives in] heaven. He is the one who made the sea and the land. I am trying to escape from [doing what] Yahweh [told me to do].”

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.

After the sailors heard that, they were terrified. So they asked him, “Do you realize what [trouble] you have caused?”

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?”

The [storm kept getting worse and] the waves kept getting bigger. So [one of] the sailors asked Jonah, “What should we do in order to make the sea become calm?”

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.”

He replied, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. [If you do that], it will become calm. I know that this terrible storm is the result of my [not doing what Yahweh told me to do].”

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.

But the sailors did [not want to do that]. [Instead], they tried hard to row the ship back to the land. But they could not [do that], because the storm continued to get worse.

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.”

Therefore they prayed to Yahweh, and [one of them] prayed, “O Yahweh, please do not let us drown because of our causing this man to die. O Yahweh, you have done what you wanted to do. [We do not know if this man has sinned. If] he has not sinned, do not consider that we are guilty of sinning when we cause him to die!”

15 And they lift up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceases from its raging;

Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. Then the sea became calm.

16 and the men fear YHWH [with] a great fear, and sacrifice a sacrifice to YHWH, and vow vows.

[When that happened], the sailors became greatly awed at Yahweh’s [power]. So they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and they strongly promised [him that they would do things that would please 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.

[While they were doing that, ] Yahweh sent a huge fish that swallowed Jonah. Then Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.