Jonah 1

New International Version

Jonah Flees From the Lord

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah^(A) son of Amittai:^(B) ²“Go to the great city of Nineveh^(C) and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

³But Jonah ran^(D) away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish^(E). He went down to Joppa,^(F) where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.^(G)

⁴Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.^(H) ⁵All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.^(I)

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call^(J) on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”^(K)

⁷Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.”^(L) They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.^(M) ⁸So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

⁹He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord,^(N) the God of heaven,^(O) who made the sea^(P) and the dry land.^(Q)”

¹⁰This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

¹¹The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

¹²“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”^(R)

¹³Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.^(S) ¹⁴Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man,^(T) for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”^(U) ¹⁵Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.^(V) ¹⁶At this the men greatly feared^(W) the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows^(X) to him.

Jonah’s Prayer

¹⁷Now the Lord provided^(Y) a huge fish to swallow Jonah,^(Z) and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

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Matthew 12:9-21

New International Version

⁹Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus,^(A) they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”^(B)

¹¹He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?^(C) ¹²How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!^(D) Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.^(E)

God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.^(F) ¹⁶He warned them not to tell others about him.^(G) ¹⁷This was to fulfill^(H) what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
    the one I love, in whom I delight;^(I)
I will put my Spirit on him,^(J)
    and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry out;
    no one will hear his voice in the streets.
²⁰A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
²¹    In his name the nations will put their hope.”^[a]^(K)

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Footnotes

Matthew 12:21 Isaiah 42:1-4

1 Kings 8:44-66

New International Version

⁴⁴“When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray^(A) to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, ⁴⁵then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.^(B)

⁴⁶“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin^(C)—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive^(D) to their own lands, far away or near; ⁴⁷and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead^(E) with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;^(F) ⁴⁸and if they turn back^(G) to you with all their heart^(H) and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray^(I) to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple^(J) I have built for your Name;^(K) ⁴⁹then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. ⁵⁰And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy;^(L) ⁵¹for they are your people and your inheritance,^(M) whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.^(N)

⁵²“May your eyes be open^(O) to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.^(P) ⁵³For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance,^(Q) just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

⁵⁴When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵He stood and blessed^(R) the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest^(S) to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises^(T) he gave through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake^(U) us. ⁵⁸May he turn our hearts^(V) to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. ⁵⁹And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, ⁶⁰so that all the peoples^(W) of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.^(X) ⁶¹And may your hearts^(Y) be fully committed^(Z) to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

The Dedication of the Temple^(AA)

⁶²Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices^(AB) before the Lord. ⁶³Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated^(AC) the temple of the Lord.

⁶⁴On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat^(AD) of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar^(AE) that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.^(AF)

⁶⁵So Solomon observed the festival^(AG) at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath^(AH) to the Wadi of Egypt.^(AI) They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good^(AJ) things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.