Chapter 1
1 The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jonah, son of Amathi, in these words:
2 »Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.«
3 And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish, far from the face of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish and, having paid its passage, he went down to go with them to Tarshish, away from the face of Yahweh.
4 But Yahweh caused a great wind to blow upon the sea, and there was a great storm upon the sea; the ship threatened to break up.
5 The sailors were afraid; each cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was on the ship into the sea to lighten their load. And Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship; he lay down and slept soundly.
6 Then the captain of the crew approached him and said, »Why are you sleeping? Get up, call on your God; perhaps God will take notice of us, and we will not perish!«
7 And they said to one another, »Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know whose will we come this evil.» They cast the lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, »Tell us, then, on whose account has this misfortune befallen us; what is your profession, where do you come from, what is your country, and of what people are you?
9 He answered them, »I am a Hebrew and I worship Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.«
10 The men were filled with great fear, and they said to him, »What have you done?» For the men knew that he was running away. far from the face of Yahweh, because he THE he had told them.
11 They said to him, »What shall we do to you, that the sea may calm down for us?» For the sea kept rising higher and higher.
12 He answered them, »Take me and throw me into the sea, and the sea will calm down for you; for I know that it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.«
13 The men rowed to bring the ship back to land, but they could not; for the sea kept rising more and more against them.
14 Then they cried out to the Lord, saying, »O Lord, do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not hold us responsible for innocent blood; for it is you, O Lord, who have done as you pleased.«
15 And taking Jonah, they threw him into the sea; and the sea calmed his fury.
16 And the men were filled with great fear for the Lord; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
Chapter 2
1 And Yahweh brought a great fish to swallow Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2 And from the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God.
3 He said: From my distress I called upon the Lord, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried out: you heard my voice.
4 You threw me into the abyss, into the heart of the seas, and the waters surrounded me; all your waves and all your breakers swept over me.
5 And I said: I am driven from before your eyes; yet I will still behold your holy temple.
6 The waters had closed in on me to the soul, the abyss surrounded me, seaweed encircled my head.
7 I had descended to the roots of the mountains; the locks of the earth were fired on me forever!
And you have brought my life up from the pit, Yahweh, my God!
8 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh; and my prayer was heard. until’to you, to your holy temple.
9 Those who cling to vain desires abandon the author of their grace.
10 But I, with praise, will offer you a sacrifice; the vow I have made, I will fulfill. Salvation belongs to the Lord!
11 Yahweh spoke to the fish, and the fish vomited Jonah onto the ground.
Chapter 3
1 The word of Yahweh was addressed a second time to Jonas, in these terms:
2 »Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message I tell you.«
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was a great city in God’s sight, three days’ journey away.
4 Jonah began to enter the city, taking a day's journey, and he preached, saying, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed!"»
5 The people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in ashes.
7 And a cry went out in Nineveh, and it was said by decree of the king and his nobles, "Let neither man nor beast, oxen nor sheep, taste anything, let them not graze or drink water;
8 that they cover themselves with sackcloth, both people and animals, that they cry out to God with strength, and that they turn each from their evil way and stocks of the violence that his hands commit!
9 Who knows? God may yet relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish?«
10 God saw what they were doing, how they turned from their evil way; and God relented concerning the disaster that he had announced he would bring on them; and he did not do it.
Chapter 4
1 Jonah was deeply grieved and angry.
2 He prayed to Yahweh and said, »Ah! Yahweh, is this not what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I first fled to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and relenting from sending calamity.
3 Now, Yahweh, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.«
4 And Yahweh answered, »Do you have a right to be angry?«
5 And Jonah went out of the city and sat down to the east of the city; there He built himself a hut and sat under it in the shade, until he saw what would happen in the city.
6 And Yahweh-God made a castor oil plant grow up over Jonah to give shade over his head, to deliver him from his affliction; and Jonah was very glad because of the castor oil plant.
7 But Yahweh brought a worm at daybreak the next day, which attacked the castor oil plant, and it withered.
8 When the sun rose, the Lord brought a scorching wind from the east, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he fainted. He asked to die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."»
9 Then God said to Jonah, »Do you have a right to be angry about the castor oil plant?» He replied, »It is right for me to be angry, even to the point of death.«
10 And Yahweh said, »You are grieving over the castor oil plant for which you did not labor and that You did not make grow what came in one night and perished in one night;
11 And I will not grieve over Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also a great many animals!«
