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Jonah 1 NIV
1 The word of the LORD came to
Jonah son of Amittai:
2 "Go to the great city of
Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up
before me."
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He
went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After
paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from
the LORD.
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a
violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
5 All the sailors were afraid
and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the
sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay
down and fell into a deep sleep.
6 The captain went to him and
said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will
take notice of us, and we will not perish."
7 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots
to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots
and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making
all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from?
What is your country? From what people are you?"
9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God
of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
10 This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?"
(They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already
told them so.)
11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him,
"What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"
12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it
will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm
has come upon you."
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But
they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
14 Then they cried to the LORD,
"O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not
hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD,
have done as you pleased."
15 Then they took Jonah and
threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
16 At this the men greatly
feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made
vows to him.
17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and
Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. |
