Jonah Flees from Yahweh’s Presence

1 Now the word of ^[a]Yahweh came to ^(A)Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ² “Arise, go to ^(B)Nineveh, the great city, and ^(C)call out against it, for their ^(D)evil has come up before Me.” ³ Yet Jonah arose to flee to ^(E)Tarshish ^(F)from the presence of Yahweh. So he went down to ^(G)Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, and ^[b]paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.

⁴ But ^(H)Yahweh hurled a great wind on the sea, and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship gave thought to ^[c]breaking apart. ⁵ Then the sailors became fearful, and every man cried to ^(I)his god, and they ^(J)hurled the ^[d]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it ^[e]for them. But Jonah had gone down below into the innermost part of the vessel, lain down, and fallen deep asleep. ⁶ So the captain came near to him and said to him, “How is it that you are deeply sleeping? Arise, ^(K)call on your god. Perhaps your ^(L)god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

⁷ Then each man said to the other, “Come, let us ^[f](M)have the lots fall so we may know on whose account this calamitous evil has struck us.” So they ^[g]had the lots fall, and the ^(N)lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “^(O)Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamitous evil struck us? What is your ^(P)occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” ⁹ And he said to them, “I am a ^(Q)Hebrew, and I ^(R)fear Yahweh, the ^(S)God of heaven, who ^(T)made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then the men became greatly fearful, and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was ^(U)fleeing from the presence of Yahweh because he had told them. ¹¹ So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become quiet ^[h]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. ¹² So he said to them, “Lift me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become quiet ^[i]for you, for I know that ^(V)on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” ¹³ However, the men ^[j]rowed desperately to return to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy against them. ¹⁴ Then they called on ^(W)Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, we earnestly pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not put innocent blood on us; for ^(X)You, O Yahweh, as You have pleased You have done.”

¹⁵ So they lifted Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ^(Y)stood still from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men greatly feared Yahweh, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made ^(Z)vows.

^17 [k]And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the ^(AA)stomach of the fish three days and three nights.