And Adonoy spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the children of Yisrael and say to them: I am Adonoy, your God. You shall not imitate the practice of the land of Mitzrayim where you lived nor the practice of the land of Canaan to which I am bringing you; and their statutes [customs] you shall not follow. You shall observe my mandates and preserve my statutes and follow them; I am Adonoy, your God. My statutes and My mandates, which if man obeys, he shall live through them; I am Adonoy.

No man shall come near to those of [his] close kin, to reveal their nakedness, I am Adonoy. The nakedness of your father and the nakedness of your mother you shall not reveal; she is your mother, you shall not reveal is your father's nakedness. The nakedness of your sister, [whether she is] your father's daughter, or your mother's daughter, whether she was born of a legitimate marriage or not; you shall not reveal their nakedness. The nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, you shall not reveal their nakedness; for their nakedness is your own. The nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not reveal her nakedness. The nakedness of your father's sister, you shall not reveal; she is your father's close kin. The nakedness of your mother's sister, you shall not reveal, she is your mother's close kin. The nakedness of your father's brother [i.e. his wife] you shall not reveal; you shall not come near to his wife [for] she is your aunt. The nakedness of your daughter-in-law, you shall not reveal; she is your son's wife, you shall not reveal her nakedness. The nakedness of your brother's wife, you shall not reveal; it is your brother's nakedness. The nakedness of a woman and her daughter, you shall not reveal; you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to reveal her nakedness, they are close kin, it is lewdness. You shall not take [your] wife's sister to be her rival, to reveal her nakedness, in her lifetime. You shall not come near to a woman at her time of [menstrual] uncleanliness, to reveal her nakedness. You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her. And you shall not cause any of your offspring to pass through fire [which is a form of idol worship] to Molech; and you shall not profane the Name of your God, I am Adonoy.

You shall not lie with a man [carnally] as with a woman; it is an abomination. You shall not lie with any beast to defile yourself; neither shall a woman place herself before a beast, to lie with it, it is a perversion. Do not defile yourselves by doing any of these things; for the nations which I [will] cast out from before you, are defiled by [doing] all these things. This caused the land to become defiled and I therefore caused it to punish their iniquity; and the land expelled its inhabitants. You shall preserve my statutes and my mandates, and you shall not do any of these abominable things; neither the native-born nor the stranger who lives among you. For all these abominations were practiced by the inhabitants of the land, which lived there before you, and the land is defiled. [You shall therefore take heed] that the land not expel you, should you [also] defile it, as it expelled the nation that lived there before you. For whoever practices any of these abominations; their souls shall be cut off from among their people. And you shall preserve my ordinance, not to practice any of the abominable customs which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves [by doing them], I am Adonoy, your God.

This is the Torah which Moshe placed

before the children of Yisrael.

at Adonoy's command by the hand of Moshe.

It is a tree of life

to those who grasp to it,

and those who support it are fortunate.

Its ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all its paths are peace.

Long life is at its right,

at its left, riches and honor.

Adonoy desired,

for the sake of His righteousness,

to make the Torah great and to glorify it.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

our God, King of the Universe,

Who chose good prophets,

and was pleased with their words

which were spoken in truth.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

Who chooses the Torah

and Moshe, His servant,

and Yisrael, His people,

and the prophets of truth and righteousness.

And the word of Adonoy came to Yonah, the son of Amittai, saying: Rise up and go to Ninveh, the great city, and call upon her; for their evil has come before Me.” And Yonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from before Adonoy,¹ and he went to Yaffo and found a ship bound to Tarshish and he paid the fare and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish from before Adonoy. And Adonoy sent a strong wind out to sea and it became a mighty storm in the sea and the ship threatened to fall (break) apart. And the sailors were frightened, and each of them prayed to his own god and cast the ship's wares into the sea to lighten it for them. But Yonah went down to the ship's hold, and lay down and fell fast asleep.

footnotes: ¹ Jonah’s flight was not an attempt to deny or break his loyalty and dedication as Hashem’s prophet. On the contrary, because he recognized the sovereignty of Hashem, he did not want to embarrass Yisrael by the comparison of its stubborn refusal to repent, with the obedience of Ninveh, to the warning of Hashem.

And the captain approached him and said to him: “How can you sleep now? Rise up, call upon your God. Perhaps God will give thought (pay heed) to us and we will not perish!”

And they said one to another: “Let us go and cast lots so that we may know who is responsible for the trouble that has befallen us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Yonah.

And they said to him: “Tell us, please, why this evil has befallen us! What is your occupation and from where do you come? Where is your land and from which nation do you come?”

And He said to them: “I am an Ivri and Adonoy, the God of the Heavens I fear, Who made the sea and the dry land.”

Then the men were filled with great fear and they said to him: “What have you done?” For the men knew that from before Adonoy he was fleeing, for he had told them.

And they said to him: What shall we do with you so that the sea will no longer threaten us—for the sea grows stormier!”

And he said to them: “Pick me up and cast me into the sea, so that it will quiet down for you. For I know that it is because of me that this great storm is upon you.”

Yet still the men rowed (trying) to get back to the dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more violent against them.

And they called out to Adonoy and said: “Please Adonoy let us not perish because of this man and do not reckon it upon us as having shed innocent blood; for You, Adonoy, as You desired, You have done!”

And they lifted Yonah and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging.

Then the men feared Adonoy greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to Adonoy and made vows.

And Adonoy prepared a great fish to swallow Yonah, and Yonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. And Yonah prayed to Adonoy his God, from the belly of the fish.

And he said: “Out of my anguish I called to Adonoy and He answered me. From the belly of the grave I cried; You heard my voice.

You cast me into the depths, into the heart of the seas, and there the river surrounded me; all of Your waves and breakers swept over me.

And I had said, ‘I have been banished from Your eyes'—but, now, I shall again gaze at Your Holy Temple.

The waters surrounded me to the soul, and the deep whirled around me; seaweed was wrapped about my head.

To the very roots of the mountains I sank; the earth had barred itself against me forever. But You lifted me out of the deepest pit, Adonoy, my God!

When my soul grew faint within me, I remembered Adonoy; and my prayer reached You—to Your Holy Temple. They that preserve vanities and futility, forsake [the Source of] their kindness.

And I, with a voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You; and that which I vowed, I shall fulfill, for salvation is Adonoy's.”

And Adonoy spoke to the fish; and it ejected Yonah on to the dry land.

And the word of Adonoy came to Yonah a second time, saying: “Rise up and go to Ninveh, the great city, and call out to her, the proclamation which I tell you!”

And Yonah rose up and went to Ninveh, as Adonoy instructed. And Ninveh was a great city to Adonoy, a three-day journey across. When he entered the city and had gone the distance of one day's journey, he called out and said: “In another forty days Ninveh will be overturned!”

And the people of Ninveh believed in God and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

And when the word reached the king of Ninveh, he stood up from his throne and removed his robe and covered himself with sackcloth and sat on ashes. And he had an order proclaimed in Ninveh by the decrees of the king and his nobles, saying: “Man and cattle, herd and flock, are not to taste anything, nor shall they graze or drink water! And they shall cover themselves with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them call out earnestly to God, and let each man turn back from his evil way and from the robbery which is in their hands. Who knows, but Adonoy may relent and turn away from His burning wrath and we shall not perish.”

And God saw their deeds, that they repented from their evil ways. And God relented about the evil which He said He would do to them and He did not do it.

And Yonah was displeased and it grieved him.² He prayed to Adonoy and said, “Was this not my rationale when I was still on my own soil? I therefore hastened to flee to Tarshish, for I knew You are Almighty, Gracious and Merciful, Abounding in kindness and relenting of evil. And so now Adonoy, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And Adonoy said [to him], “Are you correct in being so grieved?”

footnotes: ² It grieved him that the Jewish people would not heed the prophets call for repentance as did the people of Ninveh, and he was upset over the fact that he himself helped bring about this indictment as a result of his mission to Ninveh.

Yonah left the city and positioned himself on the east side of the city. He made a booth for himself and sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would happen in the city. Then Adonoy, God, caused a kikayon³ to grow and rise up over Yonah, to shade his head, to alleviate his discomfort. And Yonah rejoiced greatly over the kikayon. Then God caused a worm to attack the kikayon at the dawn of the next day, and it [the kikayon] withered. At sunrise, God caused a hot—stifling east wind [to blow]; the sun beat upon Yonah's head and he felt faint. He asked for death, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.” And God said to Yonah, “Are You correct in being so grieved over the kikayon?” And he answered, “I am so grieved that I can die.” And Adonoy said, “You had pity for the kikayon for which you did not toil nor did you cause it to grow, it sprang up overnight and it perished overnight. And I, shall I not have pity upon Ninveh, the great city of more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

footnotes: ³ Rashi identifies kikayon as a plant of many leaves which provide shade. Ibn Ezra, identifies as a gourd.

Who is Almighty like You, Forbearer of iniquity and Forgiver of transgression to the remnant of His heritage? He does not maintain His anger forever, for He delights in lovingkindness. He will again have compassion on us, He will suppress our iniquities, and will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will grant truth to Yaakov, kindliness to Avraham, as You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

our God, King of the Universe,

Rock of all the worlds,

Righteous in all generations,

the Almighty, the Faithful One,

Who says and does,

Who speaks and fulfills,

for all His words are true and right.

Dependable are You, Adonoy, our God,

and dependable are Your words,

and not one of Your words

is ever retracted unfulfilled,

for You are the Almighty,

a King who is dependable and merciful.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

the Almighty

Who is dependable in all His words.

Have compassion on Tziyon

for it is the home of our life,

and the one whose soul is humiliated,

deliver speedily, in our days.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

Who causes Tziyon to rejoice

with her children.

Cause us to rejoice, Adonoy, our God,

with Elijah the prophet, Your servant,

and with the kingdom of the House of Dovid,

Your anointed.

Speedily may he come

and cause our heart to exult.

Upon his throne, no stranger shall sit,

and others will no longer inherit

his honor.

For by Your Holy Name, You swore to him,

that his light will never be extinguished.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

Shield of Dovid.

They will praise the Name of Adonoy

for His Name alone is exalted.

His majesty is over the earth and the skies.

He will raise the might of His people,

[which is] praise for all His pious ones,

for the Children of Yisrael,

the people near to Him.

Praise God.

A Psalm of Dovid:

the earth is Adonoy's and the fullness thereof,

the inhabited world and those who dwell in it.

For He founded it upon the seas,

and established it upon rivers.

Who may ascend the mountain of Adonoy,

and who may stand

in the place of His holiness?

The clean of hands and the pure of heart,

who has not borne My soul in vain,

and has not sworn deceitfully.

He will bear Adonoy's blessing

and righteousness

from the God of his deliverance.

This is the generation of those who seek Him,

the seekers of Your Presence,

[God of] Yaakov, selah.

Lift up your heads, gates,

and be uplifted

[you] entranceways to eternity,

so that the King of Glory may enter.

Who is this King of Glory?

Adonoy, strong and mighty;

Adonoy, the Mighty One in battle.

Lift up your heads, gates,

and lift up, entranceways to eternity,

so that the King of Glory may enter.

Who is He, this King of Glory?

Adonoy Tzevaos,

He is the King of Glory, selah.

And when it rested, he would say:

Return, Adonoy,

to the myriads and thousands of Yisrael.

Arise, Adonoy unto Your resting place,

You and the Ark of Your strength.

Let Your priests

clothe themselves in righteousness,

and let Your devoted ones sing in joy.

For the sake of Dovid, Your servant,

do not reject Your anointed.

For I have given you good instruction,

do not forsake My Torah.

It is a tree of life to those who grasp it,

and those who support it are fortunate.

Its ways are ways of pleasantness

and all its paths are peace.

Cause us to return to You, Adonoy,

and we shall return;

renew our days as of old.

Exalted and sanctified be His great Name

in the world which He created

according to His will;

and may He rule His Kingdom

in your lifetime and in your days,

and in the lifetime

of the entire House of Yisrael,

speedily and in the near future—

and say Amein.

May His great Name be blessed

forever and for all eternity.

Blessed and praised,

glorified, and exalted and uplifted,

honored and elevated and extolled

be the Name of the Holy One, blessed is He;

far above

all the blessings and hymns,

praises and consolations

which we utter in the world—and say Amein.