Jonah 1:1–4:9

JONAH’S FLIGHT

1The 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.

⁴But 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. ⁵The 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

⁶The captain approached him and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up! Call to your god.^Aq 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?”

⁹He 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.”

¹⁰Then 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. ¹¹So 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.

¹²He 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.” ¹³Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn’t because the sea was raging against them more and more.

¹⁴So 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

¹⁷The 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

2Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish:^aj

²I called to the Lord in my distress,^ak

and he answered me.

I cried out for help from deep inside^A Sheol;^al

you heard my voice.^am

³When you threw me into the depths,^an

into the heart of the seas,^ao

the current^B overcame me.

All your breakers and your billows swept over me.^ap

⁴And I said, “I have been banished^aq

from your sight,^ar

yet I will look once more^C

toward your holy temple.^as

⁵The water engulfed me up to the neck;^Dat

the watery depths overcame me;

seaweed was wrapped around my head.^au

⁶I sank to the foundations of the mountains,^av

the earth’s gates shut behind me forever!^aw

Then you raised my life^ax from the Pit, Lord my God!^ay

⁷As my life was fading away,^a

I remembered the Lord,^b

and my prayer came to you,^c

to your holy temple.^d

⁸Those who cherish worthless idols^e

abandon their faithful love,^f

⁹but as for me, I will sacrifice^g to you

with a voice of thanksgiving.^h

I will fulfillⁱ what I have vowed.

Salvation^E belongs to the Lord.^j

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

JONAH’S PREACHING

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

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

⁶When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth,^r and sat in ashes. ⁷Then he issued a decree^s 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. ⁸Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God.^t Each must turn from his evil ways^u and from his wrongdoing.^{G 9}Who knows?^v God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.^w

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

JONAH’S ANGER

4Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.^{z 2}He prayed to the Lord,^aa “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.^ab I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,^ac slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.^{ad 3}And now, Lord, take my life from me,^ae for it is better for me to die than to live.”^af

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

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

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

⁹Then 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!”