Jonah 1
Legacy Standard Bible
Jonah Flees from Yahweh’s Presence
1 Now the word of [a]Yahweh came to (A)Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to (B)Nineveh, the great city, and (C)call out against it, for their (D)evil has come up before Me.” 3 Yet Jonah arose to flee to (E)Tarshish (F)from the presence of Yahweh. So he went down to (G)Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, and [b]paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
4 But (H)Yahweh hurled a great wind on the sea, and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship gave thought to [c]breaking apart. 5 Then the sailors became fearful, and every man cried to (I)his 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 down below into the innermost part of the vessel, lain down, and fallen deep asleep. 6 So the captain came near to him and said to him, “How is it that you are deeply sleeping? Arise, (K)call on your god. Perhaps your (L)god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
7 Then each man said to the other, “Come, let us [f](M)have the lots fall so we may know on whose account this calamitous evil has struck us.” So they [g]had the lots fall, and the (N)lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “(O)Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamitous evil struck us? What is your (P)occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a (Q)Hebrew, and I (R)fear Yahweh, the (S)God of heaven, who (T)made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men became greatly fearful, and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was (U)fleeing from the presence of Yahweh because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become quiet [h]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 So he said to them, “Lift me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become quiet [i]for you, for 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 dry land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy against them. 14 Then they called on (W)Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, we earnestly pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not put innocent blood on us; for (X)You, O Yahweh, as You have pleased You have done.”
15 So they lifted Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea (Y)stood still from its raging. 16 Then the men greatly feared Yahweh, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made (Z)vows.
17 [k]And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the (AA)stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Jonah 1:3 Lit gave its wages
- Jonah 1:4 Lit be broken
- Jonah 1:5 Lit vessels
- Jonah 1:5 Lit from upon them
- Jonah 1:7 Or cast lots
- Jonah 1:7 Or cast lots
- 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
Jonah 1
Common English Bible
Commissioning of a reluctant prophet
1 The Lord’s word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: 2 “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.”
3 So Jonah got up—to flee to Tarshish from the Lord! He went down to Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord. 4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, so that there was a great storm on the sea; the ship looked like it might be broken to pieces. 5 The sailors were terrified, and each one cried out to his god. They hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to make it lighter.
Now Jonah had gone down into the hold of the vessel to lie down and was deep in sleep. 6 The ship’s officer came and said to him, “How can you possibly be sleeping so deeply? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps the god will give some thought to us so that we won’t perish.”
7 Meanwhile, the sailors said to each other, “Come on, let’s cast lots so that we might learn who is to blame for this evil that’s happening to us.” They cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they said to him, “Tell us, since you’re the cause of this evil happening to us: What do you do and where are you from? What’s your country and of what people are you?”
9 He said to them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven—who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were terrified and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men knew that Jonah was fleeing from the Lord, because he had told them.)
11 They said to him, “What will we do about you so that the sea will become calm around us?” (The sea was continuing to rage.)
12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea! Then the sea will become calm around you. I know it’s my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
13 The men rowed to reach dry land, but they couldn’t manage it because the sea continued to rage against them. 14 So they called on the Lord, saying, “Please, Lord, don’t let us perish on account of this man’s life, and don’t blame us for innocent blood! You are the Lord: whatever you want, you can do.” 15 Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. 16 The men worshipped the Lord with a profound reverence; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made solemn promises.
No escape for the prophet
17 [a] Meanwhile, the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:17 2:1 in Heb
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