Jonah 1
Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord
1Now the word of the Lord came to aJonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2“Arise, go to bNineveh, that cgreat city, and call out against it, dfor their evil ▼▼The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jonah
has come up before me.” 3But Jonah frose to flee to gTarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to hJoppa and found a ship going to iTarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to jTarshish, kaway from the presence of the Lord. 4But lthe Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened mto break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and neach cried out to his god. And othey hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, pcall out to your god! qPerhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea
7And they said to one another, “Come, let us rcast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear sthe Lord, the God of heaven, twho made the sea and the dry land.” 10Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that uhe was fleeing 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 quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, vfor I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard ▼
▼Hebrew the men dug in [their oars]
to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and xlay not on us innocent blood, yfor you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, zand the sea ceased from its raging. 16Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, aaand they offered a sacrifice to the Lord aband made vows. A Great Fish Swallows Jonah
17 ▼▼Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
And the Lord appointed ▼▼Or had appointed
a great fish to swallow up Jonah. aeAnd Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
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