Jonah 1

1 And the word of Yahweh came unto Jonah son of Amittai, saying:

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

2 Arise, get thee to Nineveh the great city, and proclaim unto it, —that their wickedness, hath 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 But Jonah arose to flee unto Tarshish, away from the presence of Yahweh, —and went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of Yahweh.

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 But, Yahweh, hurled a great wind against the sea, —and, there arose a mighty tempest in the sea, —and, the ship, thought to be broken in pieces,

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 Then were the mariners, afraid, and made outcry every man unto his own god, and they hurled the wares which were in the ship, into the sea, to lighten it of them, —but, Jonah, had gone down into the hinder parts of the vessel, and had lain down, and fallen into a sound sleep.

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 Then drew near unto him the shipmaster, and said to him, What meanest thou, O sound sleeper? Arise, cry unto thy God, Peradventure God will bethink himself of us, that 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 they said—every one unto his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may get to know for whose sake this calamity is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon 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 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose sake this calamity is upon us? What is thy business? and from whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

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 unto them, A Hebrew, am I, —and, Yahweh, the God of the heavens, do, I, revere, him 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 did the men revere with great reverence, and said unto him, What is it thou hast done? For the men knew that, away from the presence of Yahweh, he was fleeing, —for 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 Then said they unto him, What shall we de to thee, that the sea may cease raging over us? For, the sea, was raging more and more.

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 said unto them, Take me up, and hurl me into the sea, that the sea may cease raging over you, —for I do know that, for my sake, is this great tempest 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 Nevertheless the men, wrought hard, to bring it back unto the land, but could not, —for, the sea, was raging over them more and more.

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 Then cried they unto Yahweh, and said, Ah now, Yahweh, pray let it not be that we perish for this man’s life, neither lay upon us innocent blood, —for, thou, O Yahweh, as thou hast pleased, hast ever 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 So they took up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, —and the sea, left off, her roaring.

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

16 Then did the men revere Yahweh with a great reverence, —and offered sacrifice to Yahweh, 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 Yahweh had appointed a great fish, to swallow up Jonah, —and Jonah was in the belly 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.