Jonah 1

¹ The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jonah son of Amittai:

² ‘Up!’ he said ‘Go to Nineveh, the great city, and inform them that their wickedness has become known to me.’

³ Jonah decided to run away from Yahweh, and to go to Tarshish.[*a] He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish; he paid his fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tarshish, to get away from Yahweh.

⁴ But Yahweh unleashed a violent wind on the sea, and there was such a great storm at sea that the ship threatened to break up.

⁵ The sailors took fright, and each of them called on his own god, and to lighten the ship they threw the cargo overboard. Jonah, however, had gone below and lain down in the hold and fallen fast asleep.

⁶ The boatswain came upon him and said, ‘What do you mean by sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps he will spare us a thought, and not leave us to die.’

⁷ Then they said to each other, ‘Come on, let us draw lots to find out who is responsible for bringing this evil on us’. So they cast lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.

⁸ Then they said to him, ‘Tell us, what is your business? Where do you come from? What is your country? What is your nationality?’

⁹ He replied, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I worship Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land’.

¹⁰ The sailors were seized with terror at this and said, ‘What have you done?’ They knew that he was trying to escape from Yahweh, because he had told them so.

¹¹ They then said, ‘What are we to do with you, to make the sea grow calm for us?’ For the sea was growing rougher and rougher.

¹² He replied, ‘Take me and throw me into the sea, and then it will grow calm for you. For I can see it is my fault this violent storm has happened to you.’

¹³ The sailors rowed hard in an effort to reach the shore, but in vain, since the sea grew still rougher for them.

¹⁴ They then called on Yahweh and said, ‘O Yahweh, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life; do not hold us guilty of innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have acted as you have thought right’.

¹⁵ And taking hold of Jonah they threw him into the sea; and the sea grew calm again.

¹⁶ At this the men were seized with dread of Yahweh; they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.