However, the (A)Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to [a]break up. Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried out to (B)his [b]god, and they (C)hurled the [c]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it [d]for them. But Jonah had gone below into the stern of the ship, had lain down, and fallen sound asleep. So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, (D)call on your god! Perhaps your (E)god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

And each man said to his mate, “Come, let’s (F)cast lots so that we may [e]find out on whose account this catastrophe has struck us.” So they cast lots, and the (G)lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “(H)Tell us, now! On whose account has this catastrophe struck us? What is your (I)occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country, and from what people are you?” So he said to them, “I am a (J)Hebrew, and I (K)fear the Lord (L)God of heaven who (M)made the sea and the dry land.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jonah 1:4 Lit be broken
  2. Jonah 1:5 Or gods
  3. Jonah 1:5 Lit vessels
  4. Jonah 1:5 Lit from upon them
  5. Jonah 1:7 Lit know

But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

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