Old/New Testament

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.

Jonah’s Prayer

2 ^[l]Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God ^(AB)from the stomach of the fish, ² and he said,

¹⁰ Then Yahweh spoke to the ^(AV)fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

Ninevites Turn from Their Evil Ways

3 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to ^(AW)Nineveh, the great city, and ^(AX)call out to it this very call which I am going to speak to you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was ^[p]an ^(AY)exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. ⁴ Then Jonah began to go into the city, one day’s walk; and he ^(AZ)called out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

⁵ And the ^[q]people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a ^(BA)fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ⁶ Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, ^(BB)covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ^[r]ashes. ⁷ And he ^(BC)cried out and said,

¹⁰ Then God saw their works, that they ^(BG)turned from their evil way, so ^(BH)God ^[y]relented concerning the evil which He had spoken He would ^[z]bring upon them. And He did not ^[aa]bring it upon them.

Jonah’s Anger

4 But this was a great evil to Jonah, and he became ^(BI)angry. ² And he ^(BJ)prayed to Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, was not this my word to myself while I was still in my own land? Therefore I went ahead to ^(BK)flee to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a ^(BL)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning evil. ³ So now, O Yahweh, please ^(BM)take my ^[ab]life from me, for death is ^(BN)better to me than life.” ⁴ And Yahweh said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”

⁵ Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city. And there he made a booth for himself and ^(BO)sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. ⁶ So Yahweh God appointed a ^[ac]plant, and it came up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his miserable evil. And Jonah was ^[ad]extremely glad about the plant. ⁷ But God appointed a worm at the ^[ae]breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and ^[af]it ^(BP)dried up. ⁸ Then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching ^(BQ)east wind, and the ^(BR)sun struck down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and asked with all his soul to die and said, “^(BS)Death is better to me than life.”

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” ¹⁰ Then Yahweh said, “You had pity on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which ^[ag]came to be overnight and perished ^[ah]overnight. ¹¹ So should I not ^(BT)have pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not ^(BU)know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many ^[ai](BV)animals?”

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another ^(A)strong angel ^(B)coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the ^(C)rainbow was upon his head, and ^(D)his face was like the sun, and his ^(E)feet like pillars of fire; ² and he had in his hand a ^(F)little scroll which was open. He placed ^(G)his right foot on the sea and his left on the earth, ³ and he cried out with a loud voice, ^(H)as when a lion roars. And when he had cried out, the ^(I)seven peals of thunder ^[a]uttered their voices. ⁴ And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, ^(J)I was about to write; and I ^(K)heard a voice from heaven saying, “^(L)Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” ⁵ Then the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth, ^(M)lifted up his right hand to heaven, ^6 (N)and swore by ^(O)Him who lives forever and ever, ^(P)who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that ^(Q)there will be delay no longer, ⁷ but in the days of the voice of the ^(R)seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then ^(S)the mystery of God is finished, as He proclaimed good news to His slaves, the prophets.

⁸ Then ^(T)the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take ^(U)the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who ^(V)stands on the sea and on the earth.” ⁹ So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he *said to me, “^(W)Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ And I took the little scroll out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And ^(X)they *said to me, “You must ^(Y)prophesy again about ^(Z)many peoples and nations and tongues and ^(AA)kings.”