Jonah Tries to Run from the Lord
1:1 The Lord said 1 to Jonah son of Amittai, 2 1:2 “Go immediately 3 to Nineveh, 4 that 5 large capital 6 city, 7 and announce judgment against 8 its people 9 because their wickedness 10 has come to my attention.” 11 1:3 Instead, Jonah immediately 12 headed off to Tarshish 13 to escape 14 from the commission of the Lord. 15 He traveled 16 to Joppa 17 and found a merchant ship heading 18 to Tarshish. 19 So he paid the fare 20 and went aboard 21 it to go with them 22 to Tarshish 23 far away from the Lord. 24 1:4 But 25 the Lord hurled 26 a powerful 27 wind on the sea. Such a violent 28 tempest arose on the sea that 29 the ship threatened to break up! 30 1:5 The sailors were so afraid that each cried out 31 to his own god 32 and they flung 33 the ship’s cargo 34 overboard 35 to make the ship lighter. 36 Jonah, meanwhile, 37 had gone down 38 into the hold 39 below deck, 40 had lain down, and was sound asleep. 41 1:6 The ship’s captain approached him and said, “What are you doing asleep? 42 Get up! Cry out 43 to your god! Perhaps your god 44 might take notice of us 45 so that we might not die!” 1:7 The sailors said to one another, 46 “Come on, let’s cast lots 47 to find out 48 whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us. 49 ” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. 50 1:8 They said to him, “Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? 51 What’s your occupation? Where do you come from? What’s your country? And who are your people?” 52 1:9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew! And I worship 53 the Lord, 54 the God of heaven, 55 who made the sea and the dry land.” 1:10 Hearing this, 56 the men became even more afraid 57 and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape 58 from the Lord, 59 because he had previously told them. 60 ) 1:11 Because the storm was growing worse and worse, 61 they said to him, “What should we do to you to make 62 the sea calm down 63 for us?” 1:12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, 64 because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.” 1:13 Instead, they tried to row 65 back to land, 66 but they were not able to do so 67 because the storm kept growing worse and worse. 68 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. 69 After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.” 70 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 71 greatly, 72 and earnestly vowed 73 to offer lavish sacrifices 74 to the Lord. 75
1:17 Jonah Prays
76 The Lord sent 77 a huge 78 fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
2:1 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish 2:2 and said, “I 79 called out to the Lord from my distress,
and he answered me; 80
from the belly of Sheol 81 I cried out for help,
and you heard my prayer. 82
2:3 You threw me 83 into the deep waters, 84
into the middle 85 of the sea; 86
the ocean current 87 engulfed 88 me;
all the mighty waves 89 you sent 90 swept 91 over me. 92
2:4 I thought 93 I had been banished from your sight, 94
that I would never again 95 see your holy temple! 96
2:5 Water engulfed me up to my neck; 97
the deep ocean 98 surrounded me;
seaweed 99 was wrapped around my head.
2:6 I went down 100 to the very bottoms 101 of the mountains; 102
the gates 103 of the netherworld 104 barred me in 105 forever; 106
but you brought me 107 up from the Pit, 108 O Lord, my God.
2:7 When my life 109 was ebbing away, 110 I called out to 111 the Lord,
and my prayer came to your holy temple. 112
2:8 Those who worship 113 worthless idols 114 forfeit the mercy that could be theirs. 115
2:9 But as for me, I promise to offer a sacrifice to you with a public declaration 116 of praise; 117
I will surely do 118 what I have promised. 119
Salvation 120 belongs to the Lord!” 121
2:10 Then the Lord commanded 122 the fish and it disgorged Jonah on dry land.
The People of Nineveh Respond to Jonah’s Warning
3:1 The Lord said to Jonah 123 a second time, 3:2 “Go immediately 124 to Nineveh, that large city, 125 and proclaim to 126 it the message that I tell you.” 3:3 So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city 127 – it required three days to walk through it!) 128 3:4 When Jonah began to enter the city one day’s walk, he announced, “At the end of forty days, 129 Nineveh will be overthrown!” 130
3:5 The people 131 of Nineveh believed in God, 132 and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 133 3:6 When the news 134 reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes. 3:7 He issued a proclamation and said, 135 “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water. 3:8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly 136 to God, and everyone 137 must turn from their 138 evil way of living 139 and from the violence that they do. 140 3:9 Who knows? 141 Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent 142 and turn from his fierce anger 143 so that we might not die.” 144 3:10 When God saw their actions – they turned 145 from their evil way of living! 146 – God relented concerning the judgment 147 he had threatened them with 148 and he did not destroy them. 149
Jonah Responds to God’s Kindness
4:1 This displeased Jonah terribly 150 and he became very angry. 151 4:2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought 152 would happen 153 when I was in my own country. 154 This is what I tried to prevent 155 by attempting to escape to Tarshish! 156 – because I knew 157 that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger 158 and abounding 159 in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. 160 4:3 So now, Lord, kill me instead, 161 because I would rather die than live!” 162 4:4 The Lord said, “Are you really so very 163 angry?” 164
4:5 Jonah left the city and sat down east 165 of it. 166 He made a shelter for himself there and sat down under it in the shade to see what would happen to the city. 167 4:6 The Lord God appointed 168 a little plant 169 and caused it to grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to rescue 170 him from his misery. 171 Now Jonah was very delighted 172 about the little plant.
4:7 So God sent 173 a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the little plant so that it dried up. 4:8 When the sun began to shine, God sent 174 a hot 175 east wind. So the sun beat down 176 on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, 177 and said, “I would rather die than live!” 178 4:9 God said to Jonah, “Are you really so very angry 179 about the little plant?” And he said, “I am as angry 180 as I could possibly be!” 181 4:10 The Lord said, “You were upset 182 about this little 183 plant, something for which you have not worked nor did you do anything to make it grow. It grew up overnight and died the next day. 184 4:11 Should I 185 not be even more 186 concerned 187 about Nineveh, this enormous city? 188 There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, 189 as well as many animals!” 190
