Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository
Lamsa OT - Jonah
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1 ¶ NOW the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Matai (Matthew), saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish to flee from the presence of the LORD.""
4 ¶ But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was in danger of being broken. 5 Then the mariners were afraid and cried every man to his god, and they threw the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the inner hold of the ship; and he lay and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came to him and said to him, Why are you sleeping? Arise, call upon your God, perhaps God will deliver us, that we perish not. 7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, Tell us for what cause this evil has come upon us; what is your occupation? And from what place do you come? What is your country? And of what people are you? 9 And Jonah said to them, I am a Hebrew; and I worship the LORD the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land. 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What have you done? For the men knew that he had fled from the presence of the LORD.""
11 ¶ And when he had told them everything, then they said to him, What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us? For behold, the sea continues to be more tempestuous against us. 12 Jonah said to them, Take me up and cast me into the sea, so that the sea may be calm to you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to the land; but they could not; for the sea became more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried to the LORD and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for thou art the LORD and hast done as it pleased thee. 15 So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 And the men were greatly terrified from the presence of the LORD, and they offered sacrifices of righteousness to the LORD and made vows. 17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish, and it swallowed up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.""
2:1 ¶ THEN Jonah prayed before the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, 2 I cried to the LORD in my distress and he answered me; out of the depths of Sheol cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the sea; and the flood compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves have passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast afar out of thy sight; yet now I will see again thy holy temple. 5 The waters engulfed me, even to the soul; the depth closed me round about, my head lay at the bottom of the sea. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth shut up its bars against me for ever; yet thou hast brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came in to thee, into thy holy temple. 8 All those who revere false idols forsake thy mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay the things that I have vowed, as a reward for the LORD.""
10 ¶ And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.""
3:1 ¶ AND the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it the proclamation which I tell you. 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city in the presence of God, of three days journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried and said, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.""
5 ¶ So the people of Nineveh believed in God and decreed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least. 6 And when the news reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne and took off his crown from his head and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither men nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor drink water; 8 But let men and beasts be covered with sackcloth and cry to God with groaning; yea, let every man turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows if God will return and have mercy upon us, and remove from us his fierce anger, that we may perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; he turned away from them his fierce anger, and he did not destroy them.""
4:1 ¶ BUT it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was greatly grieved. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I fled before to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious and merciful God, patient and of great kindness, and thou art ready to turn away calamity. 3 Therefore now, O my LORD, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 4 Then the LORD said to him, Are you very sorrowful?""
5 ¶ So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made a booth for himself, and sat under it in the shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the LORD God commanded a tender shoot of gourd to spring up, and it sprang up and came over Jonah, and became a shade over his head, and comforted him of his grief. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the gourd. 7 But the next day at dawn, God commanded a worm, and it smote the gourd so that it withered. 8 And it came to pass when the sun arose, the LORD God commanded a sultry east wind; and it withered the gourd, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he was weary and wished that he might die, and said, O LORD, you can take my life from me, for I am not better than my fathers. 9 And the LORD God said to Jonah, Are you exceedingly grieved over the gourd? And Jonah said, I am exceedingly grieved, even unto death. 10 Then the LORD said to him, You have had pity on the gourd for the which you did not labor nor did you make it to grow; which sprung up in a night and withered in a night; 11 And should not I have pity upon Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand,: and also much cattle?"