1:1 | The Lord said* to Jonah son of Amittai,* |
1:2 | “Go immediately* to Nineveh,* that* large capital* city,* and announce judgment against* its people* because their wickedness* has come to my attention.”* |
1:3 | Instead, Jonah immediately* headed off to Tarshish * to escape* from the commission of the Lord.* He traveled* to Joppa* and found a merchant ship heading* to Tarshish.* So he paid the fare* and went aboard* it to go with them* to Tarshish* far away from the Lord.* |
1:4 | But* the Lord hurled* a powerful* wind on the sea. Such a violent* tempest arose on the sea that* the ship threatened to break up!* |
1:5 | The sailors were so afraid that each cried out* to his own god* and they flung* the ship’s cargo* overboard* to make the ship lighter.* Jonah, meanwhile,* had gone down* into the hold* below deck,* had lain down, and was sound asleep.* |
1:6 | The ship’s captain approached him and said, “What are you doing asleep?* Get up! Cry out* to your god! Perhaps your god* might take notice of us* so that we might not die!” |
1:7 | The sailors said to one another,* “Come on, let’s cast lots* to find out* whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us.*” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out.* |
1:8 | They said to him, “Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us?* What’s your occupation? Where do you come from? What’s your country? And who are your people?”* |
1:9 | He said to them, “I am a Hebrew! And I worship* the Lord,* the God of heaven,* who made the sea and the dry land.” |
1:10 | Hearing this,* the men became even more afraid* and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape* from the Lord,* because he had previously told them.*) |
1:11 | Because the storm was growing worse and worse,* they said to him, “What should we do to you to make* the sea calm down* for us?” |
1:12 | He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down,* because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.” |
1:13 | Instead, they tried to row* back to land,* but they were not able to do so* because the storm kept growing worse and worse.* |
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.* After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.”* |
1:15 | So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. |
1:16 | The men feared the Lord* greatly,* and earnestly vowed* to offer lavish sacrifices* to the Lord.* |
1:17 | *The Lord sent* a huge* fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. |