Jonas 1
1 La parole de Yahweh fut [adressée] à Jonas, fils d’Amathi, en ces termes:
[One day] Yahweh said to [the prophet] Jonah, the son of Amittai,
2 « Lève-toi, va à Ninive, la grande ville, et prêche contre elle; car leur méchanceté est montée jusqu’à moi. »
“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 Et Jonas se leva pour s’enfuir à Tharsis, [loin]de la face de Yahweh. Il descendit à Joppé, et trouva un vaisseau qui allait à Tharsis et, ayant payé son passage, il y descendit pour aller avec eux à Tharsis, loin de la face de Yahweh.
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 Mais Yahweh fit souffler un grand vent sur la mer, et il y eut sur la mer une grande tempête; le vaisseau menaçait de se briser.
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 Les mariniers eurent peur; ils crièrent chacun à leur dieu, et jetèrent à la mer les objets qui étaient sur le vaisseau, pour s’alléger. Et Jonas était descendu au fond du navire; il s’était couché et dormait profondément.
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 Alors le chef de l’équipage s’approcha de lui et lui dit: « Qu’as-tu à dormir? Lève-toi, invoque ton Dieu; peut-être Dieu pensera-t-il à nous, et nous ne périrons pas! »
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 Et ils se dirent les uns aux autres: « Venez, jetons les sorts, afin que nous sachions de qui nous [vient] ce mal. » Ils jetèrent les sorts, et le sort tomba sur Jonas.
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 Alors ils lui dirent: « Dis-nous donc à cause de qui nous arrive ce mal; quelle est ta profession, d’où viens-tu, quel est ton pays et de quel peuple es-tu?
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 Il leur répondit: « Je suis un Hébreu et j’adore Yahweh, le Dieu du ciel, qui a fait la mer et la terre. »
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 Les hommes furent saisis d’une grande crainte, et ils lui dirent: « Qu’as-tu fait! » Car les hommes savaient qu’il s’enfuyait [loin]de la face de Yahweh, parce qu’il [le] leur avait déclaré.
After the sailors heard that, they were terrified. So they asked him, “Do you realize what [trouble] you have caused?”
11 Ils lui dirent: « Que te ferons-nous, pour que la mer s’apaise pour nous? » Car la mer continuait de se soulever de plus en plus.
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 Il leur répondit: « Prenez-moi et me jetez à la mer, et la mer s’apaisera pour vous; car je sais que c’est à cause de moi que cette grande tempête est venue sur vous. »
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 Les hommes ramaient pour ramener le vaisseau à la terre, mais ils ne le purent pas; car la mer continuait de se soulever de plus en plus contre eux.
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 Alors ils crièrent à Yahweh et dirent: « Ah! Yahweh, que nous ne périssions pas pour l’âme de cet homme, et ne nous chargez pas d’un sang innocent; car c’est toi, Yahweh, qui as fait comme il t’a plu. »
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 Et prenant Jonas, ils le jetèrent à la mer; et la mer calma sa fureur.
Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. Then the sea became calm.
16 Et les hommes furent saisis d’une grande crainte pour Yahweh; ils offrirent un sacrifice à Yahweh et firent des vœux.
[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 Et Yahweh fit venir un grand poisson pour engloutir Jonas; et Jonas fut dans les entrailles du poisson trois jours et trois nuits.
[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.
