Jonas 1
1 Pawòl SENYÈ a te vini a Jonas, fis a Amitthaï a. Li te di:
[One day] Yahweh said to [the prophet] Jonah, the son of Amittai,
2 “Leve, ale Ninive, gran vil la, e kriye kont li, paske mechanste yo monte devan Mwen.”
“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 Men Jonas te leve al kacheTarsis pou kite prezans SENYÈ a. Konsa, li te desann Joppa, e li te jwenn yon bato ki t ap prale Tarsis. Li te peye frè a, e te desann ladann pou ale avèk yo Tarsis pou l envite prezans SENYÈ a.
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 Men SENYÈ a te lanse yon gwo van sou lanmè a. Te gen yon gwo tanpèt sou lanmè a jiskaske bato a te prèt pou kraze nèt.
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 Answit, ouvriye bato yo te vin pè e yo chak te kriye a pwòp dye pa yo. Yo te vide chaj ki te nan bato a nan lanmè a pou te fè l pi lejè. Men Jonas te ale anba nan fon bato a, epi kote li te kouche a, li te tonbe dòmi.
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 Konsa, kapitèn bato a te pwoche li e te di: “Kòman fè w ap dòmi an? Leve rele dye pa ou a. Petèt dye ou a va fè pa nou pou nou pa peri.”
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 Chak mesye yo te di a konparèy yo: “Vini, annou fè tiraj osò pou nou ka konprann sou kont kilès gwo malè sa a rive nou an.” Yo te fè tiraj osò a, e sò a te tonbe sou 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 Konsa yo te di li: “Pale nou koulye a! Sou kont a kilès malè sa a rive nou an? Ki metye ou? Epi ki kote ou sòti? Ki peyi ou? Nan ki pèp ou sòti?”
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 Li te di yo: “Mwen se yon Ebre, e mwen gen lakrent pou SENYÈ Bondye syèl la, ki te fè lanmè a ak tè sèch la.”
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 Pou sa a, mesye yo te vin pè anpil e yo te di li: “Kisa ou te fè la?” Paske mesye yo te deja konprann ke li t ap sove ale sòti kite prezans a SENYÈ a, akoz sa li te di yo.
After the sailors heard that, they were terrified. So they asked him, “Do you realize what [trouble] you have caused?”
11 Konsa, yo te di l: “Kisa pou nou ta fè ou pou lanmè a vin kalm pou nou?” Paske lanmè a t ap vin pi move plis toujou.
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 Li te di yo: “Leve mwen, jete m nan lanmè a. Konsa, lanmè va vin kalm pou nou; paske mwen konnen ke se akoz mwen menm ke gwo tanpèt sa a rive sou nou.”
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 Sepandan, mesye yo te bouje zaviwon yo fò pou yo ta ka rive atè, men yo pa t kapab, paske lanmè te vin pi move kont yo.
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 Pou sa a, yo te rele SENYÈ a e te di: “O SENYÈ, pa kite nou peri sou kont a nonm sila a, ni pa mete san inosan sou nou; paske Ou menm, O SENYÈ, Ou fè sa ki fè Ou plezi.”
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 Konsa, yo te leve Jonas, yo te voye li nan lanmè a, e lanmè te vin sispann anraje.
Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. Then the sea became calm.
16 Epi mesye yo te vin krent SENYÈ a anpil. Yo te ofri yon sakrifis a SENYÈ a e te fè ve yo a Li menm.
[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 Epi SENYÈ a te chwazi yon gwo pwason pou vale Jonas, e Jonas te nan vant pwason a pandan twa jou ak twa nwit.
[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.
