Jonah’s Flight

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:^{(A) 2} “Get up!^(B) Go to the great city^(C) of Nineveh^(D) and preach against it^(E) because their evil^(F) has come up before me.”^{(G) 3} Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish^(H) from the Lord’s presence.^(I) He went down^(J) to Joppa^(K) and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.

⁴ But the Lord threw^(L) a great wind onto the sea,^(M) and such a great storm arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break apart. ⁵ The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god.^(N) They threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load.^(O) Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel and had stretched out and fallen into a deep sleep.^(P)

⁶ The captain approached him and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up! Call to your god.^[a](Q) Maybe this god will consider us,^(R) and we won’t perish.”

⁷ “Come on!” the sailors said to each other. “Let’s cast lots.^(S) Then we’ll know who is to blame for this trouble we’re in.” So they cast lots, and the lot singled out Jonah.^{(T) 8} Then they said to him, “Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we’re in.^(U) What is your business,^(V) and where are you from? What is your country, and what people are you from?”

⁹ He answered them, “I’m a Hebrew.^(W) I worship^[b] the Lord,^(X) the God of the heavens,^(Y) who made the sea^(Z) and the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then the men were seized by a great fear and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew he was fleeing from the Lord’s presence^(AA) because he had told them. ¹¹ So they said to him, “What should we do to you so that the sea will calm down for us?” For the sea was getting worse and worse.

¹² He answered them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea so that it will calm down for you, for I know that I’m to blame^(AB) for this great storm that is against you.” ¹³ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn’t because the sea was raging against them more and more.

¹⁴ So they called out to the Lord,^(AC) “Please, Lord, don’t let us perish because of this man’s life, and don’t charge us with innocent blood! For you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.”^{(AD) 15} Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.^{(AE) 16} The men were seized by great fear of the Lord,^(AF) and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.^(AG)

¹⁷ The Lord appointed a great fish^(AH) to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.^(AI)

Jonah’s Prayer

2 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish:^(AJ)

¹⁰ Then the Lord commanded the fish,^(BJ) and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah’s Preaching

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:^{(BK) 2} “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh^(BL) and preach^(BM) the message that I tell you.” ³ Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.

Now Nineveh was an extremely great city,^[h](BN) a three-day walk. ⁴ Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed,^(BO) “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!” ⁵ Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast^(BP) and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

⁶ When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth,^(BQ) and sat in ashes. ⁷ Then he issued a decree^(BR) in Nineveh:

By order of the king and his nobles: No person or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. ⁸ Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God.^(BS) Each must turn from his evil ways^(BT) and from his wrongdoing.^{[i] 9} Who knows?^(BU) God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.^(BV)

¹⁰ God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways^(BW)—so God relented from the disaster^(BX) he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.

Jonah’s Anger

4 Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.^{(BY) 2} He prayed to the Lord,^(BZ) “Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place.^(CA) I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,^(CB) slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.^{(CC) 3} And now, Lord, take my life from me,^(CD) for it is better for me to die than to live.”^(CE)

⁴ The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah left the city and found a place east of it.^(CF) He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ Then the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble.^[j] Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant. ⁷ When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.^(CG)

⁸ As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind.^(CH) The sun beat down on Jonah’s head^(CI) so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”^(CJ)

⁹ Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”

¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh,^(CK) which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left,^(CL) as well as many animals?”^(CM)

John the Baptist Doubts

11 When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.^{(A) 2} Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples^{(B) 3} and asked him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” ^(C)

⁴ Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy^[a] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news,^{(D) 6} and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.”^(E)

⁷ As these men were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?^{(F) 8} What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See, those who wear soft clothes are in royal palaces. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.^{(G) 10} This is the one about whom it is written:

¹¹ “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared,^[c] but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence,^[d] and the violent have been seizing it by force. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.^{(I) 15} Let anyone who has ears^[e] listen.^(J)

An Unresponsive Generation

¹⁶ “To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to other children:

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’^{(K) 19} The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard,^(L) a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’^(M) Yet wisdom is vindicated^[g] by her deeds.”^[h]

²⁰ Then he proceeded to denounce the towns where most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent: ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin!^(N) Woe to you, Bethsaida!^(O) For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,^(P) they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago. ²² But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment^(Q) than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades.^(R) For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. ²⁴ But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

The Son Gives Knowledge and Rest

²⁵ At that time Jesus said,^(S) “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.^{(T) 26} Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure.^{[i] 27} All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires^[j] to reveal him.^(U)

²⁸ “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.^{(V) 29} Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,^(W) because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.^{(X) 30} For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”