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 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.