Jonah 1
International Children’s Bible
God Calls and Jonah Runs
1 The Lord spoke his word to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up, go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it. I see the evil things they do.”
3 But Jonah got up to run away from the Lord. He went to the city of Joppa. There he found a ship that was going to the city of Tarshish. Jonah paid for the trip and went aboard. He wanted to go to Tarshish to run away from the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent a great wind on the sea. This wind made the sea very rough. So the ship was in danger of breaking apart. 5 The sailors were afraid. Each man cried to his own god. The men began throwing the cargo into the sea. This would make the ship lighter so it would not sink.
But Jonah had gone down into the ship to lie down. He fell fast asleep. 6 The captain of the ship came and said, “Why are you sleeping? Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe your god will pay attention to us. Maybe he will save us!”
7 Then the men said to each other, “Let’s throw lots to see who caused these troubles to happen to us.”
So the men threw lots. The lot showed that the trouble had happened because of Jonah. 8 Then the men said to Jonah, “Tell us what you have done. Why has this terrible thing happened to us? What is your job? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?”
9 Then Jonah said to them, “I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven. He is the God who made the sea and the land.”
10 Then the men were very afraid. They asked Jonah, “What terrible thing did you do?” They knew Jonah was running away from the Lord because Jonah had told them.
11 The wind and the waves of the sea were becoming much stronger. So the men said to Jonah, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down?”
12 Jonah said to them, “Pick me up, and throw me into the sea. Then it will calm down. I know it is my fault that this great storm has come on you.”
13 Instead, the men tried to row the ship back to the land. But they could not. The wind and the waves of the sea were becoming much stronger.
Jonah’s Punishment
14 So the men cried to the Lord, “Lord, please don’t let us die because of taking this man’s life. Please don’t think we are guilty of killing an innocent man. Lord, you have caused all this to happen. You wanted it this way.” 15 Then the men picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea. So the sea became calm. 16 Then they began to fear the Lord very much. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord. They also made promises to him.
17 And the Lord caused a very big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 1
New American Standard Bible 1995
Jonah’s Disobedience
1 The word of the Lord came to (A)Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to (B)Nineveh the great city and (C)cry against it, for their (D)wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to (E)Tarshish (F)from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to (G)Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 The (H)Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to [a]break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to (I)his god, and they (J)threw the [b]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it [c]for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, (K)call on your god. Perhaps your (L)god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us (M)cast lots so we may [d]learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the (N)lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “(O)Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your (P)occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a (Q)Hebrew, and I (R)fear the Lord (S)God of heaven who (T)made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “[e]How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was (U)fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm [f]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm [g]for you, for I know that (V)on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men [h]rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the (W)Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for (X)You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea (Y)stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made (Z)vows.
17 [i]And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the (AA)stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:4 Lit be broken
- Jonah 1:5 Lit vessels
- Jonah 1:5 Lit from upon them
- Jonah 1:7 Lit know
- Jonah 1:10 Lit What is this you have done
- 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
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
