Jonah 1
English Standard Version
Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord
1 Now the word of the Lord came to (A)Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (B)Nineveh, that (C)great city, and call out against it, (D)for their evil[a] has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah (E)rose to flee to (F)Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to (G)Joppa and found a ship going to (H)Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to (I)Tarshish, (J)away from the presence of the Lord.
4 But (K)the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened (L)to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and (M)each cried out to his god. And (N)they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, (O)call out to your god! (P)Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us (Q)cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear (R)the Lord, the God of heaven, (S)who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that (T)he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, (U)for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard[b] to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and (V)lay not on us innocent blood, (W)for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, (X)and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, (Y)and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord (Z)and made vows.
A Great Fish Swallows Jonah
17 [c] And the Lord appointed[d] a great fish to swallow up Jonah. (AA)And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:2 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jonah
- Jonah 1:13 Hebrew the men dug in [their oars]
- Jonah 1:17 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
- Jonah 1:17 Or had appointed
Jonah 1
International Standard Version
Jonah is Called to Go to Nineveh
1 Now this message from the Lord came to Amittai’s son Jonah:[a] 2 “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city! Then cry out in protest[b] against it, because their evil has come to my attention.”[c]
Jonah Runs from God’s Call
3 But Jonah got up and fled from the Lord to Tarshish.[d] He went down to Joppa, secured passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded, intending to go with the mariners[e] to Tarshish to escape from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent[f] a great wind over the sea, and a severe storm broke out. It seemed as if the ship were[g] about to break up. 5 At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel. But Jonah had gone down into the vessel’s hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain approached him, and told him, “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Call on your gods! Maybe your[h] god will think about us so we won’t die!”
7 Meanwhile, each crewman told another, “Come on! Let’s cast lots to find out whose fault it is that we’re in this trouble.” So they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah! 8 So they interrogated him: “Tell us, why has this trouble come upon us? What’s your occupation? Where’d you come from? What’s your home country? What’s your nationality?”
9 “I’m a Hebrew,” he replied, “and I’m afraid of the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea—along with the dry land!”
10 In mounting terror, the men asked him, “What have you done?” The men were aware that he was fleeing from the Lord, because he had admitted this to them.
Jonah is Thrown Overboard
11 Because the sea was growing more and more stormy, they asked him, “What do we have to do to you so the sea will calm down for us?”
12 Jonah[i] told them, “Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, because I know that it’s my fault that this mighty storm has come[j] upon you.” 13 Even so, the crewmen rowed hard to bring the ship toward dry land, but they were unsuccessful, because the sea was growing more and more stormy.
14 At last they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us perish because of this man’s life, and do not hold us responsible for innocent blood, because you, Lord, have done what pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and made vows.
17 [k]Now the Lord had prepared a large sea creature[l] to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the sea creature for three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:1 The Heb. name Jonah means dove
- Jonah 1:2 The Heb. lacks in protest
- Jonah 1:2 Lit. has come up before me
- Jonah 1:3 I.e. a city far to the West
- Jonah 1:3 Lit. with them
- Jonah 1:4 Lit. threw
- Jonah 1:4 Or out so that the ship seemed that it was
- Jonah 1:6 The Heb. lacks your
- Jonah 1:12 Lit. He
- Jonah 1:12 The Heb. lacks has come
- Jonah 1:17 This vs. is 2:1 in MT
- Jonah 1:17 Lit. fish, and so throughout the book
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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