Jonah 1
Expanded Bible
God Calls and Jonah Runs
1 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up, go to the great city of Nineveh [C the capital of Assyria; Gen. 10:11, 12; 2 Kin. 19:36], and ·preach [cry out] against it, because ·I see the evil things they do [its wickedness has come to my attention/L up before me].”
3 But Jonah got up to run away from the Lord by going to Tarshish [C probably Tartessos in southwest Spain, the opposite direction from Nineveh]. 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 [hurled] 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 [take notice of] 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 [singled out; L fell upon] 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 [worship] the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land [Gen. 1].”
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 [L dug in] 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 [hold us] guilty of ·killing an innocent person [L innocent blood]. 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 [ceased raging]. 16 Then they began to fear the Lord very much; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made ·promises [vows] to him.
17 The Lord ·caused [appointed; provided] a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was ·inside [in the belly of] the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 1
New American Standard Bible
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 out against it, because their (D)wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah got up to flee to (E)Tarshish (F)from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to (G)Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and [a]boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.
4 However, 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 [b]break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried out to (I)his [c]god, and they (J)hurled the [d]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it [e]for them. But Jonah had gone below into the stern of the ship, had 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 And each man said to his mate, “Come, let’s (M)cast lots so that we may [f]find out on whose account this catastrophe 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 catastrophe struck us? What is your (P)occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and from what people are you?” 9 So 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 afraid, and they said to him, “[g]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 so that the sea will become calm [h]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm [i]for you, because I know that (V)on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men [j]rowed desperately to return to land, but they could not, because the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they cried out to 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, Lord, have done as You pleased.”
15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea (Y)stopped its raging. 16 Then the men became extremely afraid of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made (Z)vows.
17 [k]And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the (AA)stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:3 Lit went down in
- Jonah 1:4 Lit be broken
- Jonah 1:5 Or gods
- 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
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
