Jonah 1

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

And the word of the Lord was maad to Jonas,

2 “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].”

sone of Amathi, and seide, Rise thou, and go in to Nynyue, the greet citee, and preche thou ther ynne, for the malice therof stieth vp bifore me.

3 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].

And Jonas roos for to fle in to Tharsis, fro the face of the Lord. And he cam doun to Joppe, and foond a schip goynge in to Tharsis, and he yaf schip hire to hem; and he wente doun in to it, for to go with hem in to Tharsis, fro the face of the Lord.

4 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.

Forsothe the Lord sente a greet wynd in the see, and a greet tempest was maad in the see, and the schip was in perel for to be al to-brokun.

5 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].

And schip men dredden, and men crieden to her god; and senten vessels, that weren in the schip, in to the see, that it were maad liytere of hem. And Jonas wente doun in to the ynnere thingis of the schip, and slepte bi a greuouse sleep.

6 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].

And the gouernour cam to him, and seide to hym, Whi art thou cast doun in sleep? rise thou, clepe thi God to help, if perauenture God ayenthenke of vs, and we perische not.

7 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].

And a man seide to his felowe, Come ye, and caste we lottis, and wite we, whi this yuel is to vs. And thei kesten lottis, and lot felle on Jonas.

8 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?”

And thei seiden to hym, Schewe thou to vs, for cause of what thing this yuel is to vs; what is thi werk, which is thi lond, and whidur goist thou, ether of what puple art thou?

9 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].”

And he seide to hem, Y am an Ebrew, and Y drede the Lord God of heuene, that made the see and the drie lond.

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

And the men dredden with greet drede, and seiden to him, Whi didist thou this thing? for the men knewen that he flei fro the face of the Lord, for Jonas hadde schewide to hem.

11 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?”

And thei seiden to hym, What schulen we do to thee, and the see schal seesse fro vs? for the see wente, and wexe greet on hem.

12 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].”

And he seide to hem, Take ye me, and throwe in to the see, and the see schal ceesse fro you; for Y woot, that for me this greet tempest is on you.

13 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.

And men rowiden, for to turne ayen to the drie lond, and thei miyten not, for the see wente, and wexe greet on hem.

14 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!”

And thei crieden to the Lord, and seiden, Lord, we bisechen, that we perische not in the lijf of this man, and that thou yyue not on vs innocent blood; for thou, Lord, didist as thou woldist.

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

And thei token Jonas, and threwen in to the see; and the see stood of his buylyng.

16 [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].

And the men dredden the Lord with greet drede, and offriden oostis to the Lord, and vowiden avowis.

17 [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.

And the Lord made redi a greet fisch, that he shulde swolowe Jonas; and Jonas was in the wombe of the fisch thre daies and thre niytis.