Jonah 1
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
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 evil(F) has come up before me.’(G) 3 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 But the Lord threw(L) a great wind onto the sea,(M) and such a great 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.[a](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[b] the Lord,(X) the God of the heavens,(Y) who made the sea(Z) and the dry land.’
10 Then the men were seized by a great fear and said to him, ‘What have you 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 so that the sea will calm down for us? ’ For the sea was getting worse and worse.
12 He answered them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea so that it will calm down for you, for I know that I’m to blame(AB) for this great 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, Lord, don’t let us perish because of this man’s life, and don’t charge us with innocent blood! For you, Lord, 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 were seized by great fear of the Lord,(AF) and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.(AG)
17 The Lord appointed a great fish(AH) to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.(AI)
Jonah 1
New Catholic Bible
Recalcitrant Prophet[a]
Chapter 1
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai: 2 “Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and denounce it, for their wickedness has revealed itself to me.” 3 But Jonah decided to run away from the Lord and flee to Tarshish.[b] He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship that was about to sail to Tarshish. He paid his fare and boarded the ship to journey with the sailors to Tarshish, and away from the presence of the Lord.
4 However, the Lord caused a violent wind to stir up the sea, and such a furious storm arose that the ship seemed to be on the verge of breaking up. 5 The sailors were terror-stricken, and each of them cried out to his god. They also lightened the weight of the ship by throwing the cargo overboard.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship and was lying there fast asleep. 6 The captain found him there and said, “What are you doing there, sound asleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps he will take pity on us and not allow us to perish.”
7 The sailors then said to each other, “Let us cast lots so that we can discover who is to blame for bringing us this bad luck.” Therefore, they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? What is your nationality?” 9 Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 On hearing this, the sailors were even more terrified, and they said to him, “How could you have done this to us?” For they knew that he was fleeing from the Lord because he had told them so. 11 Then they said, “What shall we do with you to make the sea calm down for us?” For the sea was becoming increasingly more turbulent. 12 Jonah replied, “Pick me up and throw me overboard. Then the sea will calm down for you. I know it is my fault that this great storm has struck you.”
13 Even so, the sailors rowed with all their might to reach the shore, but they were unable to do so inasmuch as the sea was becoming increasingly turbulent. 14 Finally they cried out to the Lord, “Do not allow us to perish, Lord, for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us responsible for causing the death of an innocent man. For you yourself, O Lord, have brought this all about.” 15 Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the raging of the sea subsided. 16 On witnessing this, the men were seized by a great fear of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:1 The story of the whale resembles stories told among all the coastal peoples of the Mediterranean basin. It serves simply to end the whole episode, in the atmosphere of the marvelous, that pervades the entire account. Jesus will use Jonah’s experience with the whale as an image of his own burial and resurrection (see Mt 12:39-40; Lk 11:29-30).
- Jonah 1:3 Tarshish: perhaps Tartessos in Spain, a seaport that marked the outer limits of communication. Joppa: the Mediterranean port for Jerusalem.
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