Jonas 1

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonas the son of Amathi, saying,

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,

2 Rise, and go to Nineve, the great city, and preach in it; for the cry of its wickedness is come up to me.

“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”

3 But Jonas rose up to flee to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid his fare, and went up into it, to sail with them to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

4 And the Lord raised up a wind on the sea; and there was a great storm on the sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken.

Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.

5 And the sailors were alarmed, and cried every one to his god, and cast out the wares that were in the ship into the sea, that it might be lightened of them. But Jonas was gone down into the hold of the ship, and was asleep, and snored.

The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

6 And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, Why snore you? arise, and call upon your God, that God may save us, and we perish not.

The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

7 And each man said to his neighbour, Come, let us cast lots, and find out for whose sake this mischief is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas.

“Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

8 And they said to him, Tell us what is your occupation, and whence come you, and of what country and what people are you?

“Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”

9 And he said to them, I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea, and the dry [land].

“I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 Then the men feared exceedingly, and said to him, What is this [that] you have done? for the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them.

Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

11 And they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea rose, and lifted its wave exceedingly.

Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?”

12 And Jonas said to them, Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

“Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.”

13 And the men tried hard to return to the land, and were not able: for the sea rose and grew more and more tempestuous against them.

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.

14 And they cried to the Lord, and said, Forbid it, Lord: let us not perish for the sake of this man's life, and bring not righteous blood upon us: for you, Lord, have done as you would.

So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”

15 So they took Jonas, and cast him out into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.

At this, they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.

16 And the men feared the Lord very greatly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows.

Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.

17 Now the Lord had commanded a great whale to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.

Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.