Jonah — The Coverdale Bible (1535)
Jonah tells of the prophet who fled God’s call, was swallowed by a great fish, and preached to Nineveh. In Coverdale’s Bible of 1535 it stands in the Prophets under the heading “The Prophet Ionas”. Coverdale’s summary of the chapters stands before the text; the 1535 Bible has no verse numbers, so the text keeps its own paragraphs, in 4 chapters, with the marginal notes and references printed after each chapter.
What Ionas conteyneth.
- Chap. I. God sendeth Ionas vnto Niniue, he fleyth, and is cast in to the see.
- Chap. II. A fysh swaloweth vp Ionas, which crieth vnto God, and prayseth hym, and the fysh casteth him out agayne vpon the londe.
- Chap. III. God sendeth him agayne to Niniue, to shewe them the punyshment for to come, yf they wil not repent: they amende, and God is mercifull to them.
- Chap. IIII. Ionas is angrie, and complayneth of God, which refourmeth him.
Chapter 1
THe worde of the LORDE came [A] vnto Ionas the sonne of Amithai, sayenge: Aryse,⁽¹⁾ and get the to Niniue that greate cite: and preach vnto them,⁽²⁾ how yᵗ their wickednesse is come vp before me. And Ionas made him ready to fle vnto Tharsis from the presence of the LORDE, and gat him downe to Ioppa: where he founde a shippe ready for to go vnto Tharsis. So he payde his fare, and wente aborde, that he might go with them vnto Tharsis from the presence of the LORDE. But the LORDE hurled a greate wynde in to the see, and there was a mightie tempest in the see: so that the shippe was in ioperdy of goinge in peces. Then the maryners were afrayde, and cried euery man vnto his god: and the goodes that were in the shippe, they cast in to the see, to lighten it off them. But Ionas gat him vnder yᵉ hatches, where he layed him downe and slombred.
[B] So the master of the shippe came to him and sayde vnto him: why slomberest thou? Vp, call vpon thy God: yf God (happly) wil thynke vpon vs, that we peryshe not. And they sayde one to another: come, let vs cast lottes: that we maye knowe, for whose cause we are thus troubled.⁽³⁾ And so they cast lottes, and the lot fell vpon Ionas.
Thē sayde they vnto him: tell vs, for whose cause are we thus troubled? what is thine occupacion? whence commest thou? what countre man art thou, and of what nacion? He answered them: I am an Ebrue, and I feare the LORDE God of heauen, which made both the see and drie londe. Then were yᵉ men exceadingly afrayed, & sayde vnto him: why didest thou so? (for they knewe, that he was fled from the presence of the LORDE, because he had tolde them) and sayde morouer vnto him: What shall we do vnto the, that the see maye ceasse from troublinge [C] vs? (for the see wrought and was troublous) he answered them: Take me, and cast me in to the see, so shal it let you be in rest: for I wote, it is for my sake, that this greate tempest is come vpon you.
Neuerthelesse, the men assayed with rowinge, to brynge the shippe to lōde: but it wolde not be, because the see wrought so, & was so troublous agaynst them. Wherfore they cried vnto the LORDE, and sayde: O LORDE, ⁽⁴⁾ let vs not perish for this mans death, nether laye thou innocent bloude vnto oure charge: for thou (o LORDE) hast done, euen as thy pleasure was.
So they toke Ionas, and cast him in to the see, and the see lefte ragynge. And the men feared the LORDE exceadingly, doynge sacrifices ād makynge vowes vnto the LORDE.
Notes to Chapter 1
⁽¹⁾ 4. Re. 14 Ione 3 a Gen. 10. ⟨illegible⟩
⁽²⁾ Gen. 18. ⟨illegible⟩
⁽³⁾ ⟨illegible⟩osu. 7. c
⁽⁴⁾ Deu. 21. b
Chapter 2
[A] BVt the LORDE prepared a greate fyshe, to swalow vp Ionas. So was Ionas in the bely of the fysh,⁽¹⁾ thre dayes and thre nightes. And Ionas prayed vnto the LORDE his God, out of the fysshes bely, and sayed:⁽²⁾ In my trouble I called vnto yᵉ LORDE, and he herde me: out off the bely off hell I cried, and thou herdest my voyce. Thou haddest cast me downe depe in yᵉ middest off the see, and the floude compased me aboute:⁽³⁾ yee all thy wawes and rowles of water went ouer me, I thought that I had bene cast awaye out of thy sight: but I wil yee agayne loke towarde thy holy temple.
The waters compased me, euen to the very [B] soule: the depe laye aboute me, and the wedes were wrapte aboute myne heade. I wente downe to the botome of the hilles, & was barred in with earth for euer. But thou (o LORDE my God) hast brought vp my lyfe agayne out of corrupcion. When my soule faynted within me, I thought vpon the LORDE: and my prayer came in vnto the, euen in to thy holy temple, They that holde of vayne vanyties, wil forsake his mercy. But I wil do the sacrifice with the voyce of thankesgeuynge, and wil paye that I haue vowed: for why? saluacion commeth of the LORDE. And yᵉ LORDE spake vnto yᵉ fysh, and it cast out Ionas agayne vpon the drye londe.
Notes to Chapter 2
⁽¹⁾ Matt. 12. d
⁽²⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
⁽³⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
Chapter 3
THen came the worde of the LORDE vnto Ionas agayne, sayenge: vp, and [A] get the to Niniue that greate cite,⁽¹⁾ & preach vnto them the preachinge, which I bade the. So Ionas arose, and wente to Niniue at the LORDES commaundement. Niniue was a greate cite vnto God, namely, off thre dayes iourney.
And Ionas wente to, and entred in to yᵉ cite: euen a dayes iourney, and cried, sayenge: There are yet xl. dayes, and then shal Niniue be ouerthrowen.⁽²⁾ And the people of Niniue beleued God, and proclamed fastinge▪ and arayed them selues in sack cloth, as well the greate as the small of them. And the tydinges came vnto yᵉ kinge of Niniue, which arose out off his seate, and dyd his apparell off, and put on sack cloth, and sate him downe in asshes.
And it was cried and commaunded in [B] Niniue, by the auctorite of the kīge and his lordes, sayenge: se that nether man or beest,⁽³⁾ oxe or shepe taist ought at all: and that they nether fede ner drincke water: but put on sack cloth both man and beest, and crye mightely vnto God: yee se that euery man turne frō his euell waye, and from the wickednesse,⁽⁴⁾ yᵗ he hath in honde.
Who can tell? God maye turne, and repēte, and cease from his fearce wrath, that we perish not. And when God sawe their workes, how they turned from their wicked wayes:⁽⁵⁾ he repented on the euell, which he sayde he wolde do vnto them, and dyd it not.
Notes to Chapter 3
⁽¹⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
⁽²⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
⁽³⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
⁽⁴⁾ ⟨illegible⟩
⁽⁵⁾ ⟨illegible⟩ ▪ 38. b
Chapter 4
[A] WHerfore Ionas was sore discontēt, and angrie. And he prayed vnto the LORDE, and sayde: O LORDE, was not this my sayenge (I praye the) when I was yet in my countre? therfore I haisted rather to fle vnto Tharsis, for I knowe well ynough that thou art a mercifull God, full of compassion, lōge sufferinge, and of greate kyndnesse, and repentest when thou shuldest take punyshment. And now o LORDE, take my life fro me (I beseke the) for I had rather dye then lyue.⁽¹⁾ Then sayde the LORDE: art thou so angrie? And Ionas gat him out of the cite, and sat downe on yᵉ east syde therof: and there made him a bothe, and sat vnder it in the shadow, till he might se, what shulde chaunce vnto the cite.
And the LORDE God prepared a wylde vyne, which sprange vp ouer Ionas, that he might haue shadowe aboue his heade, to delyuer him out of his payne. And Ionas was exceadinge glad of the wylde vyne. But vpō the nexte morow agaynst the springe of the daye, the LORDE ordened a worme, which smote the wylde vyne, so that it wethered awaye. And when the Sōne was vp God prepared a feruent east wynde: and the Sonne bete ouer the heade of Ionas, that he faynted agayne, and wyszshed vnto his soule, that he might dye, and sayde: It is better for me to dye, thē to lyue. And God sayd vnto Ionas: Art thou so angrie for the wylde vyne? And he sayde: yee very angrie am I euen vnto the deeth. And the LORDE sayde: thou hast compassion vpon a wylde vyne, wherō thou bestowdest no laboure, ner may dest it growe: which sprange vp in one night and perished in another: And shulde not I then haue compassion vpon Niniue that greate cite, wherin there are aboue an C. and xx. thousande personnes, yᵗ knowe not their right hōde frō the lefte, besydes moch catell?
Notes to Chapter 4
⁽¹⁾ ⟨illegible⟩. 19. a
The ende of the prophet Ionas.
Colophon
This page is an archival transcription of the printed text, not a Good Works Translation. Source: Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe (M.D.XXXV; STC 2063.3), translated by Myles Coverdale, the copy in Cambridge University Library, keyed and encoded by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP Phase I, text A10349, 2005) and released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 public-domain dedication.
11 places are still marked ⟨illegible⟩ (0 in the text, 11 in the marginal notes).
🌲