Jonah 1

Jonah Runs from the Lord

1The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

4But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

7Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8“Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

9Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

10The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”

12“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”

13Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. 14Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”

15Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.

17*1:17 Verse 1:17 is numbered 2:1 in Hebrew text.Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah 2

Jonah’s Prayer

1*2:1 Verses 2:1-10 are numbered 2:2-11 in Hebrew text.Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2He said,

“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,

and he answered me.

I called to you from the land of the dead,*2:2 Hebrew from Sheol.

and Lord, you heard me!

3You threw me into the ocean depths,

and I sank down to the heart of the sea.

The mighty waters engulfed me;

I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.

4Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.

Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’

5“I sank beneath the waves,

and the waters closed over me.

Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

6I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.

I was imprisoned in the earth,

whose gates lock shut forever.

But you, O Lord my God,

snatched me from the jaws of death!

7As my life was slipping away,

I remembered the Lord.

And my earnest prayer went out to you

in your holy Temple.

8Those who worship false gods

turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

9But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,

and I will fulfill all my vows.

For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

10Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.