Jonas 1

¹ Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

² Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.

³ But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.

⁴ But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was likely to be broken.

⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man to his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it to them. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

⁶ So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, What do you mean, O sleeper? Arise, call on your God, perhaps God will think on us, that we will not perish.

⁷ And they said every one to his fellow man, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is on us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

⁸ Then they said to him, Tell us, we pray you, for whose cause this evil is on us; what is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?

⁹ And he 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 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that you have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.

¹¹ Then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

¹² And he said to them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so the sea will be calm to you{+}: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is on you{+}.

¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get back to the land; but they could not: for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

¹⁴ Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, We urge you, O Yahweh, we urge you, let us not perish for this man's life, and don't lay innocent blood on us; for you, O Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.

¹⁵ So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.

¹⁶ Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.

¹⁷ And Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the insides of the fish three days and three nights.