Jonah 1–2

Jonah’s Disobedience

1Now the word of the Lord came to ^aJonah the son of Amittai, saying, ²“Arise, go to ^bNineveh, that ^cgreat city, and cry out against it; for ^dtheir wickedness has come up before Me.” ³But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to ^eJoppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to ^fTarshish ^gfrom the presence of the Lord.

The Storm at Sea

⁴But ^hthe Lord ¹sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.

⁵Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten ²the load. But Jonah had gone down ⁱinto the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

⁶So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, ^jcall on your God; ^kperhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

⁷And they said to one another, “Come, let us ^lcast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸Then they said to him, ^m“Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”

⁹So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear ³the Lord, the God of heaven, ⁿwho made the sea and the dry land.”

Jonah Thrown into the Sea

¹⁰Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. ¹¹Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.

¹²And he said to them, ^o“Pick me up and ⁴throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”

¹³Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, ^pbut they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and ^qdo not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, ^rhave done as it pleased You.” ¹⁵So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, ^sand the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶Then the men ^tfeared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

Jonah’s Prayer and Deliverance

¹⁷Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And ^uJonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. ²And he said:

“I ^acried out to the Lord because of my affliction,

^bAnd He answered me.

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

And You heard my voice.

^3cFor You cast me into the deep,

Into the heart of the seas,

And the floods surrounded me;

^dAll Your billows and Your waves passed over me.

^4eThen I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight;

Yet I will look again ^ftoward Your holy temple.’

⁵The ^gwaters surrounded me, even to my soul;

The deep closed around me;

Weeds were wrapped around my head.

⁶I went down to the ¹moorings of the mountains;

The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;

Yet You have brought up my ^hlife from the pit,

O Lord, my God.

⁷“When my soul fainted within me,

I remembered the Lord;

ⁱAnd my prayer went up to You,

Into Your holy temple.

⁸“Those who regard ^jworthless idols

Forsake their own ²Mercy.

⁹But I will ^ksacrifice to You

With the voice of thanksgiving;

I will pay what I have ^lvowed.

^mSalvation is of the ⁿLord.”

¹⁰So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.