Jonah 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jonah’s Flight
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:(A) 2 “Get up!(B) Go to the great city(C) of Nineveh(D) and preach against it,(E) because their wickedness(F) has confronted[a] Me.”(G) 3 However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish(H) from the Lord’s presence.(I) He went down(J) to Joppa(K) and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, from the Lord’s presence.
4 Then the Lord hurled(L) a violent wind on the sea,(M) and such a violent storm arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break apart. 5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god.(N) They threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load.(O) Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel and had stretched out and fallen into a deep sleep.(P)
6 The captain approached him and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up! Call to your god.[b](Q) Maybe this god will consider us,(R) and we won’t perish.”
7 “Come on!” the sailors said to each other. “Let’s cast lots.(S) Then we’ll know who is to blame for this trouble we’re in.” So they cast lots, and the lot singled out Jonah.(T) 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we’re in.(U) What is your business(V) and where are you from? What is your country and what people are you from?”
9 He answered them, “I’m a Hebrew.(W) I worship[c] Yahweh,(X) the God of the heavens,(Y) who made the sea(Z) and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What is this you’ve done?” The men knew he was fleeing from the Lord’s presence,(AA) because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you to calm this sea that’s against us?” For the sea was getting worse and worse.
12 He answered them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea[d] so it may quiet down for you, for I know that I’m to blame(AB) for this violent storm that is against you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn’t because the sea was raging against them more and more.
14 So they called out to the Lord:(AC) “Please, Yahweh, don’t let us perish because of this man’s life, and don’t charge us with innocent blood! For You, Yahweh, have done just as You pleased.”(AD) 15 Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.(AE) 16 The men feared the Lord(AF) even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.(AG)
17 [e]Now the Lord had appointed a huge fish(AH) to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in[f] the fish three days and three nights.(AI)
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:2 Or has come up to
- Jonah 1:6 Or God
- Jonah 1:9 Or fear
- Jonah 1:12 Lit sea that’s against you
- Jonah 1:17 Jnh 2:1 in Hb
- Jonah 1:17 Lit in the belly of
Jonah 1
Names of God Bible
Jonah Tries to Run Away from the Lord
1 Yahweh spoke his word to Jonah, son of Amittai. He said, 2 “Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people that I can no longer overlook the wicked things they have done.”
3 Jonah immediately tried to run away from Yahweh by going to Tarshish. He went to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid for the trip and went on board. He wanted to go to Tarshish to get away from Yahweh.
4 Yahweh sent a violent wind over the sea. The storm was so powerful that the ship was in danger of breaking up. 5 The sailors were afraid, and they cried to their gods for help. They began to throw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship’s load.
Now, Jonah had gone below deck and was lying there sound asleep. 6 The captain of the ship went to him and asked, “How can you sleep? Get up, and pray to your El. Maybe he will notice us, and we won’t die.”
7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Let’s throw dice to find out who is responsible for bringing this disaster on us.” So they threw dice, and the dice indicated that Jonah was responsible.
8 They asked him, “Tell us, why has this disaster happened to us? What do you do for a living? Where do you come from? What country are you from? What nationality are you?”
9 Jonah answered them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh, the God of heaven. He is the Elohim who made the sea and the land.”
10 Then the men were terrified. They knew that he was running away from Yahweh, because he had told them. They asked Jonah, “Why have you done this?”
11 The storm was getting worse. So they asked Jonah, “What should we do with you to calm the sea?”
12 He told them, “Throw me overboard. Then the sea will become calm. I know that I’m responsible for this violent storm.”
13 Instead, the men tried to row harder to get the ship back to shore, but they couldn’t do it. The storm was getting worse.
14 So they cried to Yahweh for help: “Please, Yahweh, don’t let us die for taking this man’s life. Don’t hold us responsible for the death of an innocent man, because you, Yahweh, do whatever you want.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the sea became calm. 16 The men were terrified of Yahweh. They offered sacrifices and made vows to Yahweh.[a]
17 Yahweh sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:16 Jonah 1:17 in English Bibles is Jonah 2:1 in the Hebrew Bible.
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The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.