1 Herrens ord kom til Jona, sønn av Amittai, og sa:

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,

2 Gå til Ninive, den store byen, og forkynn mot den, for deres ondskap har kommet opp for mitt ansikt.

Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me.

3 Men Jona gjorde seg klar til å flykte til Tarsis, bort fra Herren. Han dro ned til Jaffa, fant et skip som skulle til Tarsis, betalte for reisen og gikk ombord for å reise med dem til Tarsis, bort fra Herren.

And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.

4 Men Herren sendte en sterk vind over havet, og det ble en voldsom storm, slik at skipet var i ferd med å brytes i stykker.

And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken.

5 Sjøfolkene ble grepet av frykt, ropte hver til sin gud, og kastet lasten overbord for å lette skipet. Men Jona hadde gått ned i skipets innerste del, hvor han lå og sov dypt.

Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep.

6 Skipets kaptein kom til ham og sa, Hvordan kan du sove? Stå opp, kall på din Gud! Kanskje din Gud vil tenke på oss, så vi ikke går under.

And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction.

7 De sa til hverandre, Kom, la oss kaste lodd for å finne ut hvem som er skyld i denne ulykken. De kastet lodd, og loddet falt på Jona.

And they said to one another, Come, let us put this to the decision of chance and see on whose account this evil has come on us. So they did so, and Jonah was seen to be the man.

8 Da sa de til ham, Forklar oss hva du har gjort, hvor du kommer fra, hva ditt land er, og hvem ditt folk er.

Then they said to him, Now make clear to us what is your work, and where you come from? what is your country, and who are your people?

9 Han svarte dem, Jeg er en hebreer, og jeg frykter Herren, himmelens Gud, som har skapt hav og tørt land.

And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

10 Da ble mennene fylt av stor frykt og sa til ham, Hva er det du har gjort? For mennene visste at han flyktet fra Herren, fordi han hadde sagt det til dem.

And the men were in great fear, and they said to him, What is this you have done? For the men had knowledge of his flight from the Lord because he had not kept it from them.

11 De sa til ham, Hva skal vi gjøre med deg, så havet kan bli rolig for oss? For havet ble stadig mer opprørt.

And they said to him, What are we to do to you so that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was getting rougher and rougher.

12 Han svarte dem, Ta meg opp og kast meg i havet, så vil havet bli rolig for dere. For jeg vet at denne store stormen er kommet over dere på grunn av meg.

And he said to them, Take me up and put me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you: for I am certain that because of me this great storm has come on you.

13 Mennene prøvde å ro tilbake til land, men klarte det ikke, for havet raste enda mer mot dem.

And the men were working hard to get back to the land, but they were not able to do so: for the sea got rougher and rougher against them.

14 Da ropte de til Herren og sa, Å, Herre, la oss ikke gå under på grunn av denne mannens liv, og påfør oss ikke skylden for å ta uskyldig liv. For du, Herre, har gjort som du ville.

So, crying to the Lord, they said, Give ear to our prayer, O Lord, give ear, and do not let destruction overtake us because of this man's life; do not put on us the sin of taking life without cause: for you, O Lord, have done what seemed good to you.

15 Så tok de Jona og kastet ham i havet, og havet stilnet fra sin vrede.

So they took Jonah up and put him into the sea: and the sea was no longer angry.

16 Da ble mennene fylt av stor ærefrykt for Herren, de ofret til Herren og avla løfter til ham.

Then great was the men's fear of the Lord; and they made an offering to the Lord and took oaths to him.