Page:JPS-1917-Universal.djvu/759

Rh 'I am a Hebrew; and I fear the, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.' Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him: 'What is this that thou hast done?' For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the , because he had told them.

Then said they unto him: 'What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us?' for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. And he said unto them: 'Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.' Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not; for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the, and said: 'We beseech Thee, O , we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for Thou, O , hast done as it pleased Thee.' So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto the, and made vows.

And the prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the his God out of the fish's belly. And he said:


 * I called out of mine affliction
 * Unto the, and He answered me;
 * Out of the belly of the nether-world cried I,
 * And Thou heardest my voice.
 * For thou didst cast me into the depth,
 * In the heart of the seas,
 * And the flood was round about me;
 * All Thy waves and Thy billows
 * Passed over me.
 * And I said: 'I am cast out
 * From before Thine eyes';
 * Yet I will look again
 * Toward Thy holy temple.
 * The waters compassed me about, even to the soul;
 * The deep was round about me;
 * The weeds were wrapped about my head.
 * I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;
 * The earth with her bars closed upon me for ever;
 * Yet hast Thou brought up my life from the pit,
 * O my God.
 * When my soul fainted within me,
 * I remembered the ;
 * And my prayer came in unto Thee,
 * Into Thy holy temple.
 * They that regard lying vanities
 * Forsake their own mercy.
 * But I will sacrifice unto Thee
 * With the voice of thanksgiving;
 * That which I have vowed I will pay.
 * Salvation is of the.


 * And the spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

And the word of the came unto Jonah the second time, saying: 'Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and make unto it the proclamation that I bid thee.' So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said: 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.'

And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a