FIRST READING "Jonah arose, but to flee from the presence of the Lord" Reading of the book of the prophet Jonah 1, 1 - 2, 1.11

FIRST READING 

"Jonah arose, but to flee from the presence of the Lord" 

Reading of the book of the prophet Jonah 1, 1 - 2, 1.11 

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:

    “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great heathen city,

and proclaim that his wickedness has come up unto me. "

    Jonah arose, but to flee to Tarshish

from the presence of the Lord.

Descending in Jaffa, he found a ship bound for Tarshish.

He paid for his passage and embarked to go there,

far from the presence of the Lord.

    But the Lord sent a fierce wind upon the sea,

and a great storm arose,

so that the ship threatened to break up.

    The sailors were frightened;

each one cried out to his god

and, to lighten up, threw the cargo into the sea.

Now Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship,

he had gone to bed and was sleeping a mysterious sleep.

    The captain went to find him and said,

"What are you doing?" You sleep ?

Get up ! Call on your god.

Maybe this god will take care of us

to keep us from perishing. "

    And the sailors said to each other:

" Let us draw lots

to find out to whom we owe this misfortune. "

And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

    They asked him:

"Tell us, then, where does this misfortune come from?"

What is your profession ? Where do you come from ?

What is your country ? What people are you from? "

    Jonah answered them

“I am Hebrew,

I fear the Lord, the God of heaven,

who made the sea and the dry land. "

    The sailors were seized with great fear

and said to him:

" What have you done there? "

They knew, from what he told them,

he fled the face of the Lord.

    They asked him:

"What must we do with you,

so that the sea calms around us? "

For the sea was increasingly furious.

    He answered them:

"Take me, throw me into the sea,

that the sea may calm around you."

Because, I admit, it is because of me

that this great storm assails you. "

    The sailors rowed back ashore,

but could not do so,

for the sea was more and more angry around them.

    They then called on the Lord:

“Ah! Lord,

do not put us to death because of this man,

and do not hold us responsible for the death of an innocent person,

for you are the Lord:

what you wanted you did. "

    Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea.

Then the fury of the sea fell.

    Men were seized with the fear of the Lord;

they offered him a sacrifice accompanied by vows.

    The Lord ordered a large fish

to swallow Jonah.

Jonah remained in the bowels of the fish

three days and three nights.

    Then the Lord spoke to the fish,

and the fish threw Jonah back to dry land. 

            - Word of the Lord.