Jonah 1

Jonah Tries to Run from the Lord

1:1 The Lord said¹ to Jonah son of Amittai,² 1:2 “Go immediately³ to Nineveh,⁴ that⁵ large capital⁶ city,⁷ and announce judgment against⁸ its people⁹ because their wickedness¹⁰ has come to my attention.”¹¹ 1:3 Instead, Jonah immediately¹² headed off to Tarshish¹³ to escape¹⁴ from the commission of the Lord.¹⁵ He traveled¹⁶ to Joppa¹⁷ and found a merchant ship heading¹⁸ to Tarshish.¹⁹ So he paid the fare²⁰ and went aboard²¹ it to go with them²² to Tarshish²³ far away from the Lord.²⁴ 1:4 But²⁵ the Lord hurled²⁶ a powerful²⁷ wind on the sea. Such a violent²⁸ tempest arose on the sea that²⁹ the ship threatened to break up!³⁰ 1:5 The sailors were so afraid that each cried out³¹ to his own god³² and they flung³³ the ship’s cargo³⁴ overboard³⁵ to make the ship lighter.³⁶ Jonah, meanwhile,³⁷ had gone down³⁸ into the hold³⁹ below deck,⁴⁰ had lain down, and was sound asleep.⁴¹ 1:6 The ship’s captain approached him and said, “What are you doing asleep?⁴² Get up! Cry out⁴³ to your god! Perhaps your god⁴⁴ might take notice of us⁴⁵ so that we might not die!” 1:7 The sailors said to one another,⁴⁶ “Come on, let’s cast lots⁴⁷ to find out⁴⁸ whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us.⁴⁹” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out.⁵⁰ 1:8 They said to him, “Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us?⁵¹ What’s your occupation? Where do you come from? What’s your country? And who are your people?”⁵² 1:9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew! And I worship⁵³ the Lord,⁵⁴ the God of heaven,⁵⁵ who made the sea and the dry land.” 1:10 Hearing this,⁵⁶ the men became even more afraid⁵⁷ and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape⁵⁸ from the Lord,⁵⁹ because he had previously told them.⁶⁰) 1:11 Because the storm was growing worse and worse,⁶¹ they said to him, “What should we do to you to make⁶² the sea calm down⁶³ for us?” 1:12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down,⁶⁴ because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.” 1:13 Instead, they tried to row⁶⁵ back to land,⁶⁶ but they were not able to do so⁶⁷ because the storm kept growing worse and worse.⁶⁸ 1:14 So they cried out to the Lord, “Oh, please, Lord, don’t let us die on account of this man! Don’t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood.⁶⁹ After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.”⁷⁰ 1:15 So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. 1:16 The men feared the Lord⁷¹ greatly,⁷² and earnestly vowed⁷³ to offer lavish sacrifices⁷⁴ to the Lord.⁷⁵

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