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 King James Version
Jonah’s Disobedience
1 Now the word of the Lord came to (A)Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (B)Nineveh, that (C)great city, and cry out against it; for (D)their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to (E)Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to (F)Tarshish (G)from the presence of the Lord.
The Storm at Sea
4 But (H)the Lord [a]sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten [b]the load. But Jonah had gone down (I)into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, (J)call on your God; (K)perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us (L)cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, (M)“Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear [c]the Lord, the God of heaven, (N)who made the sea and the dry land.”
Jonah Thrown into the Sea
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, (O)“Pick me up and [d]throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, (P)but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and (Q)do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, (R)have done as it pleased You.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, (S)and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men (T)feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.
Jonah’s Prayer and Deliverance
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And (U)Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:4 Lit. hurled
- Jonah 1:5 Lit. from upon them
- Jonah 1:9 Heb. YHWH
- Jonah 1:12 Lit. hurl
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
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
