Jonah 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 1
Jonah’s Disobedience and Flight. 1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah,(A) son of Amittai:[a] 2 Set out for the great city[b] of Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come before me.(B) 3 But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish,[c] away from the Lord. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went down in it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.
4 (C)The Lord, however, hurled a great wind upon the sea, and the storm was so great that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors were afraid and each one cried to his god. To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, and lay there fast asleep. 6 The captain approached him and said, “What are you doing asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps this god will be mindful of us so that we will not perish.”
7 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots to discover on whose account this evil has come to us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.(D) 8 They said to him, “Tell us why this evil has come to us! What is your business? Where do you come from? What is your country, and to what people do you belong?” 9 “I am a Hebrew,” he replied; “I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him, “How could you do such a thing!”—They knew that he was fleeing from the Lord, because he had told them. 11 They asked, “What shall we do with you, that the sea may calm down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more stormy. 12 Jonah responded, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea and then the sea will calm down for you. For I know that this great storm has come upon you because of me.”
13 Still the men rowed hard to return to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy. 14 Then they cried to the Lord: “Please, O Lord, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life; do not charge us with shedding innocent blood, for you, Lord, have accomplished what you desired.”[d] 15 Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. 16 Seized with great fear of the Lord, the men offered sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
Footnotes
- 1:1 Jonah, son of Amittai: a prophet of this name lived at the time of Jeroboam II (786–746 B.C.).
- 1:2 Great city: exaggeration is characteristic of this book; the word “great” (Heb. gadol) occurs fourteen times.
- 1:3 Tarshish: identified by many with Tartessus, an ancient Phoenician colony in southwest Spain; precise identification with any particular Phoenician center in the western Mediterranean is uncertain. To the Israelites it stood for the far west.
- 1:14 Aware that this disaster is a divine punishment on Jonah, the sailors ask that in ridding themselves of him they not be charged with the crime of murder.
Jonah 1
Legacy Standard Bible
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.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Jonah 1:3 Lit gave its wages
- Jonah 1:4 Lit be broken
- Jonah 1:5 Lit vessels
- Jonah 1:5 Lit from upon them
- Jonah 1:7 Or cast lots
- Jonah 1:7 Or cast lots
- Jonah 1:11 Lit from upon us
- Jonah 1:12 Lit from upon you
- Jonah 1:13 Lit dug their oars into the water
- Jonah 1:17 Ch 2:1 in Heb
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