Jonah 1

1 The Lord spoke to Jonah the son of Amittai, telling him,

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,

2 “Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and condemn it because I have seen the wickedness of its people.”

Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me.

3 But Jonah left and ran away to Tarshish to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board to sail to Tarshish in order to get away from the Lord.

And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.

4 But the Lord sent a terrible wind across the sea, creating a violent storm that threatened to break up the ship.

And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken.

5 The sailors were terrified and each of them prayed to their own god to save them. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold where he had laid down and fallen fast asleep.

Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep.

6 The ship's captain went to Jonah and asked him, “How can you be sleeping? Get up and pray to your God. Maybe he will take notice of what's happening to us and we won't drown.”

And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction.

7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Let's draw lots so we can find out who's to blame for this disaster that's fallen on us.” They drew lots and Jonah's name was came up.

And they said to one another, Come, let us put this to the decision of chance and see on whose account this evil has come on us. So they did so, and Jonah was seen to be the man.

8 So they asked him, “Tell us who is responsible for this trouble that we're in. What do you do for a living? Where are you from? What is your country? What is your nationality?”

Then they said to him, Now make clear to us what is your work, and where you come from? what is your country, and who are your people?

9 “I am a Hebrew,” Jonah replied, “and I worship the Lord, the God of the heavens, the sea, and the land.”

And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

10 The sailors became even more terrified and said to Jonah, “What have you done?” because Jonah had explained to them that he was running away from the Lord.

And the men were in great fear, and they said to him, What is this you have done? For the men had knowledge of his flight from the Lord because he had not kept it from them.

11 “What shall we do to you to calm the storm?” they asked him, since the storm was getting worse.

And they said to him, What are we to do to you so that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was getting rougher and rougher.

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” Jonah replied. “Then the sea will become calm, because I know it's because of me that you're in this terrible storm.”

And he said to them, Take me up and put me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you: for I am certain that because of me this great storm has come on you.

13 Instead the sailors tried to row to get back to the shore, but they couldn't because the sea had become so wild from the worsening storm.

And the men were working hard to get back to the land, but they were not able to do so: for the sea got rougher and rougher against them.

14 Then they called out to the Lord, “Lord! Please don't kill us for sacrificing this man's life or for spilling innocent blood, for you, Lord, made it happen.”

So, crying to the Lord, they said, Give ear to our prayer, O Lord, give ear, and do not let destruction overtake us because of this man's life; do not put on us the sin of taking life without cause: for you, O Lord, have done what seemed good to you.

15 So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it became calm.

So they took Jonah up and put him into the sea: and the sea was no longer angry.

16 The sailors were overcome with fear. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made many promises to him.

Then great was the men's fear of the Lord; and they made an offering to the Lord and took oaths to him.

17 The Lord sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish.

And the Lord made ready a great fish to take Jonah into its mouth; and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.