Jonah 1-2

Common English Bible

Commissioning of a reluctant prophet

1 The Lord’s word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: ²“Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has come to my attention.”

³So Jonah got up—to flee to Tarshish from the Lord! He went down to Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went aboard to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord. ⁴But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, so that there was a great storm on the sea; the ship looked like it might be broken to pieces. ⁵The sailors were terrified, and each one cried out to his god. They hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to make it lighter.

Now Jonah had gone down into the hold of the vessel to lie down and was deep in sleep. ⁶The ship’s officer came and said to him, “How can you possibly be sleeping so deeply? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps the god will give some thought to us so that we won’t perish.”

⁷Meanwhile, the sailors said to each other, “Come on, let’s cast lots so that we might learn who is to blame for this evil that’s happening to us.” They cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸So they said to him, “Tell us, since you’re the cause of this evil happening to us: What do you do and where are you from? What’s your country and of what people are you?”

⁹He said to them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven—who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰Then the men were terrified and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men knew that Jonah was fleeing from the Lord, because he had told them.)

¹¹They said to him, “What will we do about you so that the sea will become calm around us?” (The sea was continuing to rage.)

¹²He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea! Then the sea will become calm around you. I know it’s my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

¹³The men rowed to reach dry land, but they couldn’t manage it because the sea continued to rage against them. ¹⁴So they called on the Lord, saying, “Please, Lord, don’t let us perish on account of this man’s life, and don’t blame us for innocent blood! You are the Lord: whatever you want, you can do.” ¹⁵Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. ¹⁶The men worshipped the Lord with a profound reverence; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made solemn promises.

No escape for the prophet

¹⁷^[a] Meanwhile, the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

2 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish:

²“I called out to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me.
        From the belly of the underworld^[b] I cried out for help;
        you have heard my voice.
³You had cast me into the depths in the heart of the seas,
        and the flood surrounds me.
        All your strong waves and rushing water passed over me.
⁴So I said, ‘I have been driven away from your sight.
        Will I ever again look on your holy temple?
⁵Waters have grasped me to the point of death;
        the deep surrounds me.
Seaweed is wrapped around my head
⁶        at the base of the undersea^[c] mountains.
I have sunk down to the underworld;
        its bars held me with no end in sight.
        But you brought me out of the pit.’
⁷When my endurance^[d] was weakening,
        I remembered the Lord,
        and my prayer came to you,
            to your holy temple.
⁸Those deceived by worthless things lose their chance for mercy.^[e]
⁹But me, I will offer a sacrifice to you with a voice of thanks.
        That which I have promised, I will pay.
            Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

¹⁰Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto the dry land.

Footnotes

Jonah 1:17 2:1 in Heb
Jonah 2:2 Heb Sheol
Jonah 2:6 Heb lacks undersea.
Jonah 2:7 Endurance here renders the same Heb word as life in 1:14 and death in 2:5.
Jonah 2:8 Heb uncertain