Jonah 1

1 And the word of the Lord was maad to Jonas,

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

2 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.

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

3 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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?

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

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

17 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.

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