1 And the word of Yehowah began to occur to Jo´nah the son of A·mit´tai, saying: 2 “Get up, go to Nin´e·veh the great city, and proclaim against her that their badness has come up before me.”
3 And Jo´nah proceeded to get up and run away to Tar´shish from before Yehowah; and he finally came down to Jop´pa and found a ship going to Tar´shish. So he paid its fare and went down into it, in order to go with them to Tar´shish from before Yehowah.
4 And Yehowah himself hurled forth a great wind at the sea, and there came to be a great tempest on the sea; and as for the ship, it was about to be wrecked. 5 And the mariners began to fear and to call for aid, each one to his god. And they kept hurling out the articles that were in the ship to the sea, in order to lighten [it] of them. But Jo´nah himself had gone down to the innermost parts of the decked vessel, and he proceeded to lie down and go fast asleep. 6 At length the ship captain came near to him and said to him: “What is the matter with you, sleeper? Get up, call out to your god! Perhaps the [true] God will show himself caring about us, and we shall not perish.”
7 And they began to say to one another: “Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account we have this calamity.” And they kept casting lots, and finally the lot fell upon Jo´nah. 8 So they said to him: “Do tell us, please, on whose account it is that we are having this calamity? What is your work, and from where do you come? What is your country, and from which people are you?”
9 At that he said to them: “I am a Hebrew, and Yehowah the God of the heavens I am fearing, the One who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 And the men began to fear greatly, and they went on to say to him: “What is this that you have done?” For the men had come to know that it was from before Yehowah that he was running away, because he had told them. 11 Finally they said to him: “What should we do to you, in order that the sea may become still for us?” For the sea was continually growing more tempestuous. 12 So he said to them: “Lift me up and hurl me into the sea, and the sea will become still for you; because I am aware that it is on my account that this great tempest is upon you.” 13 But the men tried to work their way through, in order to bring [the ship] back to the dry land; yet they were unable, because the sea was continually growing more tempestuous against them.
14 And they proceeded to call out to Yehowah and to say: “Ah, now, O Yehowah, may we, please, not perish because of the soul of this man! And do not put upon us innocent blood, since you yourself, O Yehowah, have done according to what you have delighted in!” 15 Then they lifted up Jo´nah and hurled him into the sea; and the sea began to halt from its raging. 16 At that the men began to fear Yehowah greatly, and so they offered a sacrifice to Yehowah and made vows.
17 Now Yehowah appointed a great fish to swallow Jo´nah, so that Jo´nah came to be in the inward parts of the fish three days and three nights.
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