Jonah 1
Names of God Bible
Jonah Tries to Run Away from the Lord
1 Yahweh spoke his word to Jonah, son of Amittai. He said, 2 “Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people that I can no longer overlook the wicked things they have done.”
3 Jonah immediately tried to run away from Yahweh by going to Tarshish. He went to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid for the trip and went on board. He wanted to go to Tarshish to get away from Yahweh.
4 Yahweh sent a violent wind over the sea. The storm was so powerful that the ship was in danger of breaking up. 5 The sailors were afraid, and they cried to their gods for help. They began to throw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship’s load.
Now, Jonah had gone below deck and was lying there sound asleep. 6 The captain of the ship went to him and asked, “How can you sleep? Get up, and pray to your El. Maybe he will notice us, and we won’t die.”
7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Let’s throw dice to find out who is responsible for bringing this disaster on us.” So they threw dice, and the dice indicated that Jonah was responsible.
8 They asked him, “Tell us, why has this disaster happened to us? What do you do for a living? Where do you come from? What country are you from? What nationality are you?”
9 Jonah answered them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh, the God of heaven. He is the Elohim who made the sea and the land.”
10 Then the men were terrified. They knew that he was running away from Yahweh, because he had told them. They asked Jonah, “Why have you done this?”
11 The storm was getting worse. So they asked Jonah, “What should we do with you to calm the sea?”
12 He told them, “Throw me overboard. Then the sea will become calm. I know that I’m responsible for this violent storm.”
13 Instead, the men tried to row harder to get the ship back to shore, but they couldn’t do it. The storm was getting worse.
14 So they cried to Yahweh for help: “Please, Yahweh, don’t let us die for taking this man’s life. Don’t hold us responsible for the death of an innocent man, because you, Yahweh, do whatever you want.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the sea became calm. 16 The men were terrified of Yahweh. They offered sacrifices and made vows to Yahweh.[a]
17 Yahweh sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:16 Jonah 1:17 in English Bibles is Jonah 2:1 in the Hebrew Bible.
Jonah 1
New Century Version
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, because I see the evil things they do.”
3 But Jonah got up to run away from the Lord by going to Tarshish. He went to the city of Joppa, where he found a ship that was going to the city of Tarshish. Jonah paid for the trip and went aboard, planning to go to Tarshish to run away from the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, which made the sea so stormy that the ship was in danger of breaking apart. 5 The sailors were afraid, and each man cried to his own god. They began throwing the cargo from the ship into the sea to make the ship lighter.
But Jonah had gone down far inside the ship to lie down, and he fell fast asleep. 6 The captain of the ship came and said, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray to your god! Maybe your god will pay attention to us, and we won’t die!”
7 Then the men said to each other, “Let’s throw lots to see who caused these troubles to happen to us.”
When they threw lots, the lot showed that the trouble had happened because of Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, who caused our trouble? 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, who made the sea and the land.”
10 The men were very afraid, and they asked Jonah, “What terrible thing did you do?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord because he had told them.)
11 Since the wind and the waves of the sea were becoming much stronger, they said to him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
12 Jonah said to them, “Pick me up, and throw me into the sea, and 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, because the sea was becoming more stormy.
Jonah’s Punishment
14 So the men cried to the Lord, “Lord, please don’t let us die because of this man’s life; please don’t think we are guilty of killing an innocent person. Lord, you have caused all this to happen; you wanted it this way.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea became calm. 16 Then they began to fear the Lord very much; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made promises to him.
17 The Lord caused a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
