Yona Guan Awurade
1Awurade asɛm baa Amitai babarima Yona nkyɛn se, 2“Kɔ kuropɔn Ninewe mu na kɔka asɛmpa no tia wɔn, efisɛ wɔn atirimɔdensɛm aforo abedu mʼanim.”
3Nanso Yona guan fii Awurade anim na ɔde nʼani kyerɛɛ Tarsis. Ɔkɔɔ Yopa, na okonyaa hyɛn wɔ hɔ a na ɛrekɔ Tarsis. Otuaa ka kɔtenaa hyɛn no mu, sɛ ɔrefi Awurade anim akɔ Tarsis.
4Nanso Awurade maa mframa kɛse bi bɔɔ wɔ po no so; ɛmaa ahum tui a, anka hyɛn no rebɛbɔ. 5Hyɛn no mufo no nyinaa suroe, na obiara su frɛɛ ne nyame. Wɔtotoo aguade a ɛwɔ hyɛn no mu guguu po no mu sɛnea hyɛn no mu bɛyɛ hare.
Nanso na Yona akɔhyɛ hyɛn no ase baabi ada hatee. 6Na hyɛn no so panyin no kɔɔ ne nkyɛn kɔkae se, “Adɛn na woada? Sɔre na frɛ wo nyame! Ebia, obehu yɛn mmɔbɔ, na yɛanwuwu.”
7Afei hyɛn no mufo no keka kyerɛɛ wɔn ho wɔn ho se, “Momma yɛmmɔ ntonto nhwehwɛ nea saa amanehunu yi nam ne so aba.” Wɔbɔɔ ntonto no na ɛbɔɔ Yona. 8Enti wobisaa no se, “Kyerɛ yɛn, hena na wama saa ɔhaw yi nyinaa aba? Adwuma bɛn na woyɛ? Ɛhe na wufi? Ɔman bɛn so na wufi? Ɛhefo ne wo nkurɔfo?”
9Obuae se, “Meyɛ Hebrini, na mesom Awurade, ɔsoro Nyankopɔn a, ɔbɔɔ po ne asase.”
10Eyi bɔɔ wɔn hu, enti wobisaa Yona se, “Dɛn na woayɛ?” (Na wonim sɛ ɔreguan afi Awurade nkyɛn, efisɛ na waka saa akyerɛ wɔn dedaw).
11Na ahum no kɔ so tu denneennen ara. Enti wobisaa no se, “Dɛn na yɛnyɛ wo a ɛbɛma ahum yi ano abrɛ ase ama yɛn?”
12Yona buaa wɔn se, “Momma me so ntow me nkyene po yi mu, na ano bedwo. Minim sɛ me nti na ahum kɛse yi retu wɔ mo so.”
13Mmarima no yɛɛ nea wobetumi biara sɛ wɔbɛhare hyɛn no akɔ mpoano. Nanso, wɔantumi, esiane sɛ na po no so ahum no ano ayɛ den asen kan no. 14Afei wosu frɛɛ Awurade se, “Awurade yɛsrɛ wo mma yennwuwu sɛ yɛama ɔbarima yi ahwere ne nkwa nti. Mma yennni fɔ wɔ ɔbarima yi mogya ho, efisɛ, Awurade wayɛ nea wopɛ.” 15Afei, wɔmaa Yona so tow no kyenee po no mu, na po a na ehuru so no yɛɛ komm. 16Eyi maa mmarima no suroo Awurade pa ara na wɔbɔɔ afɔre maa Awurade, na wɔhyɛɛ no bɔ.
Yona Mpaebɔ
17Na Awurade maa bonsu kɛse bi bɛmenee Yona, na Yona daa bonsu no yam nnansa, awia ne anadwo.
Jonah Flees From the Lord
1The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
4Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
7Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
9He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
11The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
12“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
13Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Jonah’s Prayer
17Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
