Chapter 1
The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:
Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim judgment upon it; for their wickedness has come before Me.
Jonah, however, started out to flee to Tarshish from the LORD’S service. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went aboard to sail with the others to Tarshish, away from the service of the LORD.
But the LORD cast a mighty wind upon the sea, and such a great tempest came upon the sea that the ship was in danger of breaking up.
In their fright, the sailors cried out, each to his own god; and they flung the ship’s cargo overboard to make it lighter for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the vessel, where he lay down and fell asleep.
The captain went over to him and cried out, “How can you be sleeping so soundly! Up, call upon your god! Perhaps the god will be kind to us and we will not perish.”
The men said to one another, “Let us cast lots and find out on whose account this misfortune has come upon us.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
They said to him, “Tell us, you who have brought this misfortune upon us, what is your business? Where have you come from? What is your country, and of what people are you?”
“I am a Hebrew,” he replied. “I worship the LORD, the God of Heaven, who made both sea and land.”
The men were greatly terrified, and they asked him, “What have you done?” And when the men learned that he was fleeing from the service of the LORD—for so he told them—they said to him, “What must we do to you to make the sea calm around us?” For the sea was growing more and more stormy.
He answered, “Heave me overboard, and the sea will calm down for you; for I know that this terrible storm came upon you on my account.”
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to regain the shore, but they could not, for the sea was growing more and more stormy about them.
Then they cried out to the LORD: “Oh, please, LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of killing an innocent person! For You, O LORD, by Your will, have brought this about.”
And they heaved Jonah overboard, and the sea stopped raging.
The men feared the LORD greatly; they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and they made vows.
Chapter 2
The LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the fish’s belly three days and three nights.
Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish.
He said:
In my trouble I called to the LORD,
And He answered me;
From the belly of Sheol I cried out,
And You heard my voice.
You cast me into the depths,
Into the heart of the sea,
The floods engulfed me;
All Your breakers and billows
Swept over me.
I thought I was driven away
Out of Your sight:
Would I ever gaze again
Upon Your holy Temple?
The waters closed in over me,
The deep engulfed me.
Weeds twined around my head.
I sank to the base of the mountains;
The bars of the earth closed upon me forever.
Yet You brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God!
When my life was ebbing away,
I called the LORD to mind;
And my prayer came before You,
Into Your holy Temple.
They who cling to empty folly
Forsake their own welfare,
But I, with loud thanksgiving,
Will sacrifice to You;
What I have vowed I will perform.
Deliverance is the LORD’S!
The LORD commanded the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon dry land.
Chapter 3
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
”Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it what I tell you.”
Jonah went at once to Nineveh in accordance with the LORD’S command. Nineveh was an enormously large city a three days’ walk across.
Jonah started out and made his way into the city the distance of one day’s walk, and proclaimed: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
The people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast, and great and small alike put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And he had the word cried through Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles: No man or beast-of flock or herd-shall taste anything! They shall not graze, and they shall not drink water!
They shall be covered with sackcloth-man and beast-and shall cry mightily to God. Let everyone turn back from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty.
Who knows but that God may turn and relent? He may turn back from His wrath, so that we do not perish.”
God saw what they did, how they were turning back from their evil ways. And God renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them, and did not carry it out.
Chapter 4
This displeased Jonah greatly, and he was grieved.
He prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD! Isn’t this just what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I fled beforehand to Tarshish. For I know that You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, renouncing punishment.
Please, LORD, take my life, for I would rather die than live.”
The LORD replied, “Are you that deeply grieved?”
Now Jonah had left the city and found a place east of the city. He made a booth there and sat under it in the shade, until he should see what happened to the city.
The LORD God provided a ricinus plant, which grew up over Jonah, to provide shade for his head and save him from discomfort. Jonah was very happy about the plant.
But the next day at dawn God provided a worm, which attacked the plant so that it withered.
And when the sun rose, God provided a sultry east wind; the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he became faint. He begged for death, saying, “I would rather die than live. ”
Then God said to Jonah, “Are you so deeply grieved about the plant?” “Yes,” he replied, “so deeply that I want to die.”
Then the LORD said: “You cared about the plant, which you did not work for and which you did not grow, which appeared overnight and perished overnight.
And should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not yet know their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well!”
I
1
And there was the word of Adonai
to Jona son of Amittai saying
2
Get up go to Niniva the large city
and cry to it
For the evil they do is
up upon me
3
And Jona got up to flee to Tarchich
in front of Adonai
And he went down to Jaffa
and he found a boat going to
Tarchich and he paid the fare and he
went down into it to go with them to
Tarchich in front of Adonai
4
And Adonai sent a strong wind across
the sea and there was a large storm
at sea
And the boat believed
it would crash
5
And the sailors were afraid and they
cried out each to his god
and they threw the objects
that were in
the boat into the sea to become lighter
And Jona he went down to the bottom of the ship and he
lay down and fell asleep
6
And the captain walked up to
him and said to him why are you
sleeping
Get up cry to your
god perhaps the god will consider
us and we will not be lost
7
And they said one to another go
and draw lots and we will know by whom this evil is on us
And they drew
lots and the lot fell on
Jona
8
And they said to him oh tell
us you who brought this
evil upon us
What is your job and
where are you from what is your land
and of what people are you
9
And he said to them me I am a Hebrew
And it is Adonai God
of heaven that I fear who made the
sea and the land
10
And the men were afraid very afraid and they said to him
what did you do
Because the men knew
that he fled God because he told them
11
And they said to him what will we
do to you
so the sea will calm down for us
Because the sea will storm
12
And he said to them lift me and
throw me into the sea and the
sea will be
calm for you
Because I know that it is
by me that this large storm
is on you
13
And the men rowed to return
to land and they could not
Because the sea stormed on them
14
And they cried out to God and they said oh
Adonai oh let us not be lost by
the soul of this man and do not put on us innocent blood
For you are Adonai
what you wish you do
15
And they took Jona and they
threw him into the sea
And the sea stopped raging
16
And the men were afraid very afraid
of Adonai
And they made a sacrifice to Adonai and they made vows
II
1
And Adonai set out a large fish to swallow Jona
And there was Jona in
the belly of the fish for three days and three nights
2
And Jona prayed to Adonai his God
From the belly of the fish
3
And he said in my trouble I cried to Adonai and he answered
From the womb of death
I called you heard my voice
4
And you threw me in an abyss in the heart of the sea and a current came around me
All your breakers and your
waves passed over me
5
And me I said I have been running from before your eyes
Yet I will not stop
to look on the palace of your holiness
6
Water engulfed me the abyss surrounded my soul
Rushes wrapped around my head
7
The roots of the mountains I went down the earth locked behind
me forever
And you gave me back from the grave my life Adonai my God
8
When my soul was faint in me
Adonai I remembered
And my prayer came to you to the palace of your holiness
9
Watchers of wind and blur
Their faith will relinquish
10
And me with the voice of thanksgiving I will make you a sacrifice the vows I made I will keep
Rescue is by Adonai
11
And Adonai spoke to the fish
And it vomited Jona to land
III
1
And there was the word of Adonai to Jona a second time saying
2
Get up go to Niniva the large city
and cry to it
For the evil they do is
up upon me
3
And Jona got up to go to Niniva according to the word of Adonai
And Niniva was a
large city for God a walk of three days
4
And Jona began to go into the city for a walk of one day
And he cried and he said
Forty days more and Niniva is overturned
5
And the people of Niniva had faith in God
They called a fast and dressed in sacks their large and small alike
6
And the word came from the king of Niniva and he rose from his throne and removed the splendor on him
And he covered himself in a sack and he sat in ashes
7
And he proclaimed and said in Niniva by the preference of the king and his nobles
Man and cattle big and small will not taste anything into the fields they will not go and water they will not drink
8
And man and cattle will be covered in sacks and they will be open again to God in abundance
And turn back each from their evil way and the bitterness that is in their palms
9
Who knows God may turn back and have remorse
And turn back the burning of his anger and we will not be lost
10
And God saw what they did they turned back from their evil way
And God was remorseful for the evil which he thought to do to them and he did not do it
IV
1
And it was evil to Jona a great evil
And he burned with anger
2
And he prayed to Adonai and he said oh Adonai was this not my word when I was on my land This is why before I fled to Tarchich
Because I know that you are a god of graciousness and compassion and abundant in kindness and remorseful of evil
3
And now Adonai take my soul from me
For it is better my death than my life
4
And Adonai said your anger is it so strong
5
And Jona left the city and he sat facing the city
And he made a hut and sat under it covered to see what would happen to the city
6
And Adonai God set out a plant and it rose above Jona to cover his head to discover his evil
And Jona had joy for the plant a great joy
7
And God set out a worm at the break of dawn the next day
And it struck the plant and it withered
8
And it happened when the sun shone that God set out a slashing wind from the east and the sun struck on Jona’s head and he was faint
And he asked his soul to die and he said better my death than my life
9
And God said to Jona is your anger so strong for the plant
And he said my anger is so strong to the point of death
10
And Adonai said you you had pity for the plant for which you did not work and which you did not grow
Which overnight came and overnight was lost
11
And me I should not pity Niniva the large city
Where there is more than twelve times ten thousand people who do not know their right from their left and many cattle