Beginning

¹ The chazon (vision) of Obadyah: Thus saith Adonoi Hashem concerning Edom: We have heard a report from Hashem, and an envoy is sent among the Goyim, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her (Edom) in battle.

² Hinei, I have made thee small among the Goyim; thou art greatly despised.

³ The zadon (pride, presumption, arrogance) of thine lev (heart) hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his lev, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

⁴ Though thou exalt thyself to soar as the nesher, and though thou set thy nest among the kokhavim (stars), thence will I bring thee down, saith Hashem.

⁵ If ganavim (thieves) came to thee, if shodedei lailah (robbers by night)‖oh how art thou cut off!‖would they not have stolen only till they had enough? If the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?

⁶ How is Esau searched out! How are his hidden treasures pillaged!

⁷ All the men of thy alliance have forced thee and brought thee even to the border; the anshei shlomecha (the men that were at peace with thee) have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy lechem (bread) have laid a mazor (net, trap) under thee; there is none detecting it.

⁸ Shall I not in that day, saith Hashem, even destroy the chachamim (wise men) out of Edom, and understanding out of the Har Esav?

⁹ And thy gibborim (mighty men), O Teman, shall be dismayed and lose courage, to the end that every one of the Har Esav may be cut off by slaughter.

¹⁰ For thy chamas against thy brother Ya’akov, bushah (shame) shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off l’olam (for ever).

¹¹ In the day that thou stood aloof on the other side, in the day that the zarim (strangers) carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Yerushalayim, even thou wast as one of them.

¹² But thou shouldest not have gloated over the day of thy brother in the day of his misfortune; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the Bnei Yehudah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the Yom Tzarah (Day of Trouble).

¹³ Thou shouldest not have entered into the sha’ar Ami (gate of My people) in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

¹⁴ Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossroads, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did survive in the Yom Tzarah.

¹⁵ For the Yom Hashem is near upon all the Goyim: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

¹⁶ For as ye have drunk upon My Har Kodesh (Holy Mountain), so shall all the Goyim drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

¹⁷ But upon Mt Tziyon shall be deliverance, and there shall be kodesh (holiness); and the Beis Ya’akov shall possess their inheritances.

¹⁸ And the Beis Ya’akov shall be an eish (fire), and the Beis Yosef a flame, and the Beis Esav for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the Beis Esav; for Hashem hath spoken.

¹⁹ And they of the Negev shall possess Har Esav; and they of the Shefelah, the Philistines; and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Shomron; and Benjamin shall possess Gile’ad.

²⁰ And those of the Golus of Bnei Yisroel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Tzarphat; and those of the Golus of Yerushalayim, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the Negev.

²¹ And Moshi’im (Deliverers) shall come up on Mt Tziyon to judge the Har Esav; and HaMamlachah (the Kingdom) shall be Hashem’s.

1 Now the Devar Hashem came unto Yonah ben Amittai, saying,

² Arise, go to Nineveh, that ha’ir hagedolah (great city), and preach against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.

³ But Yonah rose up to run away unto Tarshish from the presence of Hashem, and went down to Yafo; and he found an oniyah going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Hashem.

⁴ But Hashem sent out a ruach gedolah (great wind) into the yam (sea), and there was a sa’ar gadol (mighty tempest) in the yam, so that the oniyah was like to be broken.

⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his g-d, and cast forth the cargoes that were in the oniyah into the yam, to lighten it of them. But Yonah was gone down into the hold of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

⁶ So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon Eloheicha, if so be that HaElohim will think upon us, that we perish not.

⁷ And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast goralot (lots), that we may have da’as for whose cause this ra’ah is upon us. So they cast goralot (lots), and the goral (lot) fell upon Yonah.

⁸ Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause ra’ah hazot (this evil) is upon us; What is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What is thy country? And of what people art thou?

⁹ And he said unto them, Ivri anochi (I am a Hebrew); and I fear Hashem, Elohei HaShomayim, which hath made the yam and the yabashah (dry land, Bereshis 1:9).

¹⁰ Then were the men of yirah gedolah (great terror), and said unto him: Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he was running away from the presence of Hashem, because he had told them.

¹¹ Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the yam against us may be calm [see Yeshayah 53:5,8; Mt 12:39-40; 16:4]? For the yam did rage and was tempestuous.

¹² And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the yam; so shall the yam be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this sa’ar hagadol (great tempest, storm) is upon you.

¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the yabashah; but they could not: for the yam did rage, and was tempestuous against them.

¹⁴ Wherefore they cried unto Hashem, and said, We beseech Thee, Hashem, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man’s nefesh, and lay not upon us dahm naki (innocent blood); for Thou, Hashem, hast done just as it pleased Thee.

¹⁵ So they took up Yonah, and cast him forth into the yam [see Yeshayah 53:5,8; Mt 12:39-40; 16:4]; and the yam ceased from her raging.

¹⁶ Then the men feared Hashem with a yirah gedolah, and offered a sacrifice unto Hashem, and vowed nedarim.

^17 (2:1) Now Hashem had prepared a dag gadol (great fish) to swallow up Yonah. And Yonah was in the belly of the dag shloshah yamim and shloshah leilot (three days and three nights).

2 ^(2:2) Then Yonah davened unto Hashem Elohav from out of the dag’s belly,

^2 (2:3) And said, I cried by reason of mine tzoros unto Hashem, He heard me; out of the belly of Sheol cried I, and Thou heardest my voice.

^3 (2:4) For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the yamim (seas); and the current swirled about me; all Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me.

^4 (2:5) Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight; yet I will look again toward Thy Heikhal Kodesh.

^5 (2:6) The mayim compassed me about, even to the nefesh; the depth closed me round about, the seaweed were wrapped about my head.

^6 (2:7) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; ha’aretz with her bars closed behind me l’olam; yet hast Thou brought up my life from shachat (corruption; see Ps 16:10), Hashem Elohai.

^7 (2:8) When my nefesh fainted within me, I remembered Hashem; and my tefillah came unto Thee, into Thine Heikhal Kodesh.

^8 (2:9) They that observe lying vanities forsake their own chesed.

^9 (2:10) But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of todah; I will pay that which I have vowed. Yeshuah (Salvation) is from Hashem.

^10 (2:11) And Hashem spoke unto HaDag (The Fish), and it vomited out Yonah upon the yabashah (dry land).

3 And the Devar Hashem came unto Yonah the second time, saying,

² Arise, go unto Nineveh, that ir hagedolah, and preach unto it the preaching that I give thee.

³ So Yonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the Devar Hashem. Now Nineveh was an exceeding ir gedolah of a journey of shloshet yamim.

⁴ And Yonah began to enter into the city one day’s journey, and he cried out and preached, and said, Yet arba’im yamim (40 days), and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

⁵ So the people of Nineveh had emunah in Elohim, and proclaimed a tzom, and put on sackcloth, from their gedolim even to their ketanim.

⁶ For word came unto HaMelech of Nineveh, and he arose from his kisse, and he laid aside his royal robe, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

⁷ And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of HaMelech and his gedolim, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not eat, nor drink mayim;

⁸ But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto Elohim; yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the chamas that is in their hands.

⁹ Who can tell if HaElohim will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?

¹⁰ And HaElohim saw their ma’asim, that they shavu (turned) from their derech hara’ah; and HaElohim relented of hara’ah, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.

4 But it displeased Yonah with a ra’ah gedolah, and he was very angry.

² And he davened unto Hashem, and said, I pray Thee, Hashem, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I was quick to flee unto Tarshish before; for I had da’as that Thou art an EL CHANNUN V’RACHUM ERECH APAYIM V’RAV CHESED and relentest Thee of the ra’ah. [SHEMOT 34:6]

³ Therefore now, Hashem, take, I beseech Thee, my nefesh from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

⁴ Then said Hashem, Doest thou well to be angry?

⁵ So Yonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a sukkah, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would happen to the city.

⁶ And Hashem Elohim prepared a climbing gourd, and made it to come up over Yonah, that it might be a tzel (shade) over his rosh, to deliver him from his displeasure. So Yonah had simchah gedolah about the climbing gourd.

⁷ But HaElohim prepared a tola’at (worm) when the shachar (dawn) came the next day, and it chewed the climbing gourd that it withered.

⁸ And it came to pass, when the shemesh did arise, that Elohim prepared a vehement scorching east ruach (wind); and the shemesh beat upon the rosh Yonah, that he grew faint, and wanted to [T.N. Moshiach is the Navi like Moshe, the Navi like Yonah, whom Mavet swallows and then vomits up so that he can divide the spoil with those whose chet he bears away to death like the Yom Kippur scapegoat (see Isa 53:12)]. die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

⁹ And Elohim said to Yonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the climbing gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto mot (death).

¹⁰ Then said Hashem, Thou hast had pity on the climbing gourd, though thou hast not labored for it, neither madest it grow; which came up a ben lailah, and perished a ben lailah;

¹¹ And should not I spare Nineveh, that ir hagedolah, wherein are more then sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their yamin (right hand) and their semol (left hand); and also much cattle?