Jona unolamba ndayilo ya Yahwe
1 Dama la Yahwe lakazha kuna Jona, nkololo wa Amitayi, liti, 2 “Milika uyende ku Ninive, nzi nkulu usinshoma, usumikile kuti matjinyo abo akandikopodza.” 3 Koga Jona wakamilika katizha pa mesho a Yahwe, katizhila ku Tashishi. Ndizo kadelukila ku Jopa kwaakawana ikepe tjinoyenda ku Tashishi, kalipa themba, kadelukila mutjili kuyenda nabo ku Tashishi etizha pa mesho a Yahwe. 4 Koga Yahwe bakazhulila phepho isishoma mu gungwa, ndizo kukabe ne dutu lisishoma mu gungwa, ngono ikepeIkepe tjikashoko pkhwanyika. 5 Bayendisi be ikepe bakatja, ngono bakalila mmwe ne mmwe edana ndzimu uwe. Bakaposela thundu dzakabe dzili mu ikepe mu gungwa kutjilelusa. Koga Jona kabe adelukila pasi mukatikati kwe ikepe kalala pasi ngono kafa nge hwope.
6 Ntungamili we ikepe kazha kunli ngono kandwa kati, “Wakayizelelani? Muka ukumbile ku ndzimu uwo! Pamwe ungatikumbula tikasilobe.”
7 Ngono bayendisi be ikepe bakalebesana beti, “Ngatikandileni kuti ndizo tizibe ungabe athama kuti tibe mu mbatsha idzedzi.” Ndizo bakakandila ngono kukabhakhwa Jona. 8 Ngono bakati kunli, “Utibudze ungabe athama kuti tibe mu mbatsha idzedzi. Nshingo waunoshinga ndiupi? Unodwa ngayi? Shango ya kanyi kwenyu ndiipi? U ludzini?”
9 “Imi ndi Nhebheru,” Jona ebashandula, “ndonamata Yahwe, Ndzimu we kudzimu, ibo bakathama gungwa ne shango.”
10 Ngwenu balume ibaba bakazhigwa ngotja kusikushoma ngono bakati kunli, “Ini ikoku kwawathama?” Balume ibaba bakabe beziba kuti wakabe etizha pa mesho a Yahwe, ngobe wakabe ababudza. 11 Ngono bakati kunli, “Tikutini kuti gungwa gutidzikamile?” Ngobe gungwa igo gwakabe gudzongeka guyenda mbeli.
12 Ngono kati ku bali, “Munditole mundiposele mu gungwa, ndizo gungwa gowomudzikamila; ngobe ndoziba kuti ndimi ndathama kuti dutu ileli lisishoma limuwile.”
13 Koga balume ibaba bakatjikodza betjitendebudzila shule ku shango, koga bakakong'wa, ngobe gungwa gwakadzongeka guyenda mbeli gukabakulila. 14 Ndizo bakalilila kuna Yahwe beti, “Tomukumbila Yahwe, musitilobese ngekwe butjilo gwe nlume iwoyu, kakale musititilike nlandu ngotebula lopa lisina nlandu, ngobe imwi Yahwe mathama sekwa mada.” 15 Ndizo bakamilidza Jona bakamposela mu gungwa, ngono gungwa gukadzikama gukama kudzongeka. 16 Balume ibaba bakatja Yahwe ngotja kusikushoma, ndizo bakadusila Yahwe tjibhayilo kakale bakaloba tjinyala bakatuna.
Jonah Runs from the Lord
1 One day the Lord told Jonah, the son of Amittai, 2 to go to the great city of Nineveh and say to the people, “The Lord has seen your terrible sins. You are doomed!”
3 Instead, Jonah ran from the Lord. He went to the seaport of Joppa and found a ship that was going to Spain. So he paid his fare, then got on the ship and sailed away to escape.
4 But the Lord made a strong wind blow, and such a bad storm came up that the ship was about to be broken to pieces. 5 The sailors were frightened, and they all started praying to their gods. They even threw the ship's cargo overboard to make the ship lighter.
All this time, Jonah was down below deck, sound asleep. 6 The ship's captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep at a time like this? Get up and pray to your God! Maybe he will have pity on us and keep us from drowning.”
7 Finally, the sailors got together and said, “Let's ask our gods to show us who caused all this trouble.” It turned out to be Jonah.
8 They started asking him, “Are you the one who brought all this trouble on us? What business are you in? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?”
9 Jonah answered, “I'm a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 When the sailors heard this, they were frightened, because Jonah had already told them he was running from the Lord. Then they said, “Do you know what you have done?”
11 The storm kept getting worse, until finally the sailors asked him, “What should we do with you to make the sea calm down?”
12 Jonah told them, “Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I'm the cause of this terrible storm.”
13 The sailors tried their best to row to the shore. But they could not do it, and the storm kept getting worse every minute. 14 So they prayed to the Lord, “Please don't let us drown for taking this man's life. Don't hold us guilty for killing an innocent man. All of this happened because you wanted it to.” 15 Then they threw Jonah overboard, and the sea calmed down. 16 The sailors were so terrified that they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made all kinds of promises.
17 The Lord sent a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.