Jonah
1:1Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the
son of Amittai, saying, 1:2"Arise, go
to Nineveh, that great city, and preach
against it, for their wickedness has come
up before me."
1:3But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish
from the presence of Yahweh. He went down
to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish;
so he paid its fare, and went down into
it, to go with them to Tarshish from the
presence of Yahweh. 1:4But Yahweh sent
out a great wind on the sea, and there was
a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the
ship was likely to break up. 1:5Then the mariners
were afraid, and cried every man to his
god. They threw the cargo that was in the
ship into the sea, to lighten it. But Jonah
had gone down into the innermost parts of
the ship, and he was laying down, and was
fast asleep. 1:6So the shipmaster came to him, and said
to him, "What do you mean, sleeper?
Arise, call on your gods! Maybe the gods
will notice us, so that we won't perish."
1:7They all said to each other, "Come,
let us cast lots, that we may know for whose
cause this evil is on us." So they
cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 1:8Then they asked him, "Tell us, please,
for whose cause this evil is on us. What
is your occupation? Where do you come from?
What is your country? Of what people are
you?"
1:9He said to them, "I am a Hebrew,
and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who
has made the sea and the dry land."
1:10Then were the men exceedingly afraid,
and said to him, "What is this that
you have done?" For the men knew that
he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh,
because he had told them. 1:11Then said they to him, "What shall
we do to you, that the sea may be calm to
us?" For the sea grew more and more
tempestuous. 1:12He said to them, "Take me up, and
throw me into the sea. Then the sea will
be calm for you; for I know that because
of me this great tempest is on you."
1:13Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get
them back to the land; but they could not,
for the sea grew more and more tempestuous
against them. 1:14Therefore they
cried to Yahweh, and said, "We beg
you, Yahweh, we beg you, let us not perish
for this man's life, and don't lay on us
innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done
as it pleased you." 1:15So they took up
Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the
sea ceased its raging. 1:16Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly;
and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh,
and made vows.
1:17Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow
up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights.
2:1Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God,
out of the fish's belly. 2:2He said,
"I called because of my affliction
to Yahweh.
He answered
me.
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried.
You
heard my voice.
2:3For you threw me into the depths,
In the
heart of the seas.
The flood was all around me.
All
your waves and your billows passed over
me.
2:4I said, 'I have been banished from your
sight;
Yet
I will look again toward your holy temple.'
2:5The waters surrounded me,
Even
to the soul.
The deep was around me.
The
weeds were wrapped around my head.
2:6I went down to the bottoms of the mountains.
The
earth barred me in forever:
Yet
have you brought up my life from the pit,
Yahweh my God.
2:7"When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered Yahweh.
My prayer
came in to you, into your holy temple.
2:8Those who regard lying vanities forsake
their own mercy.
2:9But I will sacrifice
to you with the voice of thanksgiving.
I will
pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation belongs to Yahweh."
2:10Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited
out Jonah on the dry land.
3:1The word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second
time, saying, 3:2"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and preach to it the message that
I give you."
3:3So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according
to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an
exceedingly great city, three days' journey
across. 3:4Jonah began to enter
into the city a day's journey, and he cried
out, and said, "Yet forty days, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
3:5The people of Nineveh believed God; and
they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest of them even to the least
of them. 3:6The news reached
the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his
throne, and took off his royal robe, covered
himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
3:7He made a proclamation and published through
Nineveh by the decree of the king and his
nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor
animal, herd nor flock, taste anything;
let them not feed, nor drink water; 3:8but let them be
covered with sackcloth, both man and animal,
and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let
them turn everyone from his evil way, and
from the violence that is in his hands.
3:9Who knows whether God will not turn and
repent, and turn away from his fierce anger,
so that we might not perish?"
3:10God saw their works, that they turned
from their evil way. God repented of the
evil which he said he would do to them,
and he didn't do it.
4:1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and
he was angry. 4:2He prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please,
Yahweh, wasn't this what I said when I was
still in my own country? Therefore I hurried
to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you
are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to
anger, and abundant in loving kindness,
and you repent of the evil. 4:3Therefore now, Yahweh,
take, I beg you, my life from me; for it
is better for me to die than to live."
4:4Yahweh said, "Is it right for you
to be angry?"
4:5Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat
on the east side of the city, and there
made himself a booth, and sat under it in
the shade, until he might see what would
become of the city. 4:6Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it
to come up over Jonah, that it might be
a shade over his head, to deliver him from
his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly
glad because of the vine. 4:7But God prepared a worm at dawn the next
day, and it chewed on the vine, so that
it withered. 4:8It happened, when the sun arose, that
God prepared a sultry east wind; and the
sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he fainted,
and requested for himself that he might
die, and said, "It is better for me
to die than to live."
4:9God said to Jonah, "Is it right for
you to be angry about the vine?"
He said, "I am right to be angry,
even to death."
4:10Yahweh said, "You have been concerned
for the vine, for which you have not labored,
neither made it grow; which came up in a
night, and perished in a night. 4:11Shouldn't I be concerned for Nineveh,
that great city, in which are more than
one hundred twenty thousand persons who
can't discern between their right hand and
their left hand; and also much cattle?"
[Index]
