Jonah,
chapter 1
1: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of
Amit'tai, saying,
2: "Arise, go to Nin'eveh, that great city, and cry against
it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."
3: But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the
Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he
paid the fare, and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from
the presence of the Lord.
4: But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
5: Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god; and
they threw the wares that were 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.
6: So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean,
you sleeper? Arise, call upon your god! Perhaps your God will give a
thought to us, that we do not perish."
7: And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots,
that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us." So
they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8: Then they said to him, "Tell us, on whose account this
evil has come upon us? What is your occupation? And whence do you come?
What is your country? And of what people are you?"
9: And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord,
the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
10: Then the men were 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 the Lord, because he had told them.
11: Then 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.
12: He said to them, "Take me up and throw me into the sea;
then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me
that this great tempest has come upon you."
13: Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to
land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous
against them.
14: Therefore they cried to the Lord, "We beseech Thee, O
Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent
blood; for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased Thee."
15: So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea
ceased from its raging.
16: Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a
sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17: And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and
Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Chapter 2
1: Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the
fish,
2: saying, "I called to the Lord, out of my distress, and He
answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and Thou didst hear my
voice.
3: For Thou didst cast me into the deep, into the heart of the
seas, and the flood was round about me; all Thy waves and Thy billows
passed over me.
4: Then I said, `I am cast out from thy presence; how shall I
again look upon Thy holy temple?'
5: The waters closed in over me, the deep was round about me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6: at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose
bars closed upon me for ever; yet Thou didst bring up my life from the
pit, O Lord my God.
7: When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my
prayer came to Thee, into Thy holy temple.
8: Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their true loyalty.
9: But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to Thee;
what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!"
10: And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon
the dry land.
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Chapter
3
1: Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time,
saying,
2: "Arise, go to Nin'eveh, that great city, and proclaim to
it the message that I tell you."
3: So Jonah arose and went to Nin'eveh, according to the word of
the Lord. Now Nin'eveh was an exceedingly great city, three days'
journey in breadth.
4: Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he
cried, "Yet forty days, and Nin'eveh shall be overthrown!"
5: And the people of Nin'eveh believed God; they proclaimed a
fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of
them.
6: Then tidings reached the king of Nin'eveh, and he arose from
his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and
sat in ashes.
7: And he made proclamation and published through Nin'eveh,
"By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor
beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink
water,
8: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them
cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from
the violence which is in his hands.
9: Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger,
so that we perish not?"
10: When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil
way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and
he did not do it.
Chapter
4
1: But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
2: And he prayed to the Lord and said, "I pray Thee, Lord,
is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made
haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and
merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.
3: Therefore now, O Lord, take my life from me, I beseech Thee,
for it is better for me to die than to live."
4: And the Lord said, "Do you do well to be angry?"
5: Then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the
city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade,
till he should see what would become of the city.
6: And the Lord God appointed a plant, and made it come up over
Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his
discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
7: But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm which
attacked the plant, so that it withered.
8: When the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind, and the
sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he was faint; and he asked that
he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to
live."
9: But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for
the plant?" And he said, "I do well to be angry, angry enough
to die."
10: And the Lord said, "You pity the plant, for which you
did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a
night, and perished in a night.
11: And should not I pity Nin'eveh, that great city, in which
there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not
know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
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