Jonah · Bible in Basic English
Jonah 1 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,
1 Now Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me.
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”
3 And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.
3 But 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.
4 And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken.
4 But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up.
5 Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship and he was laying down, and was fast asleep.
6 And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction.
6 So the ship master came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish.”
7 And they said to one another, Come, let us put this to the decision of chance and see on whose account this evil has come on us. So they did so, and Jonah was seen to be the man.
7 They all said to each other, “Come! Let’s cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, Now make clear to us what is your work, and where you come from? what is your country, and who are your people?
8 Then 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?”
9 And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.”
10 And the men were in great fear, and they said to him, What is this you have done? For the men had knowledge of his flight from the Lord because he had not kept it from them.
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.
11 And they said to him, What are we to do to you so that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was getting rougher and rougher.
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy.
12 And he said to them, Take me up and put me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you: for I am certain that because of me this great storm has come on you.
12 He 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 storm is on you.”
13 And the men were working hard to get back to the land, but they were not able to do so: for the sea got rougher and rougher against them.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.
14 So, crying to the Lord, they said, Give ear to our prayer, O Lord, give ear, and do not let destruction overtake us because of this man's life; do not put on us the sin of taking life without cause: for you, O Lord, have done what seemed good to you.
14 Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.”
15 So they took Jonah up and put him into the sea: and the sea was no longer angry.
15 So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.
16 Then great was the men's fear of the Lord; and they made an offering to the Lord and took oaths to him.
16 Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.
17 And the Lord made ready a great fish to take Jonah into its mouth; and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
17 Yahweh prepared a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Amittai
Named as the father of the prophet Jonah.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 14:25; Jonah 1:1
Jonah
The prophet from Gath-hepher, son of Amittai, through whom the LORD spoke that Jeroboam son of Joash would restore Israel's boundary.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 14:25; Jonah 1:1; Jonah 1:3
Places
Joppa
Judah's main seaport. Cedar for the Temple arrived here, Jonah fled from here, and Peter's rooftop vision here opened the gospel to the Gentiles.
Cited in the guide: Jonah 1:3; Acts 9:36; Acts 10:9
Cross references (17)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Luke 11:32; Luke 11:29–30; 2 Kings 14:25; Matthew 16:4; Matthew 12:39–41
- 2 Genesis 18:20–21; Genesis 10:11; Nahum 1:1; Isaiah 58:1; Jonah 4:11
- 3 Psalm 139:7–12; Joshua 19:46; Genesis 4:16; Acts 9:43; 2 Thessalonians 1:9
- 4 Psalm 107:23–31; Matthew 8:24–27; Exodus 14:21; Psalm 135:7; Amos 4:13
- 5 Jeremiah 2:28; Acts 27:18–19; 1 Kings 18:26; Judges 16:19; Luke 22:45–46
- 6 Psalm 107:28–29; Jonah 3:9; Mark 4:37–41; Ephesians 5:14; 2 Samuel 12:22
- 7 Proverbs 16:33; Joshua 7:13–18; Numbers 32:23; Joshua 7:10; 1 Samuel 14:41–42
- 8 Genesis 47:3; 1 Samuel 30:13; James 5:16; Joshua 7:19; 1 Samuel 14:43
- 9 Psalm 146:5–6; Psalm 95:5–6; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 136:26; Nehemiah 1:4
- 10 Jonah 1:3; Job 27:22; Joshua 7:25; John 19:8; Daniel 5:6–9
- 11 1 Samuel 6:2–3; Micah 6:6–7; 2 Samuel 21:1–6; 2 Samuel 24:11–13
- 12 2 Samuel 24:17; 1 Chronicles 21:17; Joshua 7:12; John 11:50; Joshua 7:20–21
- 13 Proverbs 21:30; Job 34:29
- 14 Psalm 115:3; Psalm 135:6; Deuteronomy 21:8; Ephesians 1:11; Psalm 107:28
- 15 Luke 8:24; Psalm 93:3–4; Psalm 107:29; Psalm 89:9; Matthew 8:26
- 16 Daniel 6:26; Psalm 116:14; Genesis 8:20; Psalm 50:14; Psalm 107:22
- 17 Matthew 12:40; Luke 11:30; Matthew 16:4; Psalm 104:25–26; Habakkuk 3:2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… the sign of Jonah, for those who held the same opinion as Jonah regarding the Lord, and who confessed, and said, "I am a servant of the Lord, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land." [This was done] that man, receiving an unhoped-for salvation from God, might rise from the …
But the one says, Take me, and cast me into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you; the other, Himself rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)