Jonah 1

Jonah Tries to Run from the Lord

1 The Lord saidt to Jonah son of Amittai,t2 “Go immediatelyt to Nineveh,s thatt large capitalt city,t and announce judgment againstt its peoplet because their wickednesss has come to my attention.”t3 Instead, Jonah immediatelyt headed off to Tarshisht to escapet from the commission of the Lord.ts He traveledts to Joppas and found a merchant ship headingt to Tarshish.t So he paid the faret and went aboardt it to go with themt to Tarshisht far away from the Lord.t4 Butt the Lord hurledt a powerfult wind on the sea. Such a violentt tempest arose on the sea thatt the ship threatened to break up!t5 The sailors were so afraid that each cried outt to his own godt and they flungt the ship’s cargot overboardt to make the ship lighter.t Jonah, meanwhile,t had gone downt into the holdt below deck,t had lain down, and was sound asleep.t6 The ship’s captain approached him and said, “What are you doing asleep?t Get up! Cry outts to your god! Perhaps your godt might take notice of ust so that we might not die!”7 The sailors said to one another,t “Come on, let’s cast lotss to find outs whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us.t” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out.t8 They said to him, “Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us?t What’s your occupation? Where do you come from? What’s your country? And who are your people?”ts9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew! And I worshipt the Lord,ts the God of heaven,t who made the sea and the dry land.”10 Hearing this,t the men became even more afraidt and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escapet from the Lord,s because he had previously told them.t)11 Because the storm was growing worse and worse,t they said to him, “What should we do to you to maket the sea calm downt for us?”12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down,t because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.”13 Instead, they tried to rows back to land,s but they were not able to do sot because the storm kept growing worse and worse.t14 So they cried out to the Lord, “Oh, please, Lord, don’t let us die on account of this man! Don’t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood.t After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.”t15 So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging.

16 The men feared the Lords greatly,t and earnestly vowedt to offer lavish sacrificest to the Lord.t
17 s The Lord sentt a huget fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

JONAH 1

Jonah Runs from //the [Lord]

1  t One day the [Lord] told Jonah, the son of Amittai,

2 to go to the great city of Nineveht and say to the people, “The [Lord] has seen your terrible sins. You are doomed!”

3 Instead, Jonah ran from the [Lord]. He went to the seaport of Joppa and found a ship that was going to Spain. So he paid his fare, then got on the ship and sailed away to escape.
4 But the [Lord] made a strong wind blow, and such a bad storm came up that the ship was about to be broken to pieces.

5 The sailors were frightened, and they all started praying to their gods. They even threw the ship's cargo overboard to make the ship lighter.
All this time, Jonah was down below deck, sound asleep.

6 The ship's captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep at a time like this? Get up and pray to your God! Maybe he will have pity on us and keep us from drowning.”

7 Finally, the sailors got together and said, “Let's ask our gods to show ust who caused all this trouble.” It turned out to be Jonah.

8 They started asking him, “Are you the one who brought all this trouble on us? What business are you in? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?”

9 Jonah answered, “I'm a Hebrew, and I worship the [Lord] God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 When the sailors heard this, they were frightened, because Jonah had already told them he was running from the [Lord]. Then they said, “Do you know what you have done?”

11 The storm kept getting worse, until finally the sailors asked him, “What should we do with you to make the sea calm down?”

12 Jonah told them, “Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I'm the cause of this terrible storm.”
13 The sailors tried their best to row to the shore. But they could not do it, and the storm kept getting worse every minute. 14 So they prayed to the [Lord], “Please don't let us drown for taking this man's life. Don't hold us guilty for killing an innocent man. All of this happened because you wanted it to.” 15 Then they threw Jonah overboard, and the sea calmed down.

16 The sailors were so terrified that they offered a sacrifice to the [Lord] and made all kinds of promises.
17  t The [Lord] sent a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.