Jonah 1 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 The Lord spoke to Jonah the son of Amittai, telling him,
1 Now Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and condemn it because I have seen the wickedness of its people.”
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah left and ran away to Tarshish to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board to sail to Tarshish in order to get 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 But the Lord sent a terrible wind across the sea, creating a violent storm that threatened to break up the ship.
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 The sailors were terrified and each of them prayed to their own god to save them. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold where he had laid down and fallen fast asleep.
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 The ship's captain went to Jonah and asked him, “How can you be sleeping? Get up and pray to your God. Maybe he will take notice of what's happening to us and we won't drown.”
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 Then the sailors said to each other, “Let's draw lots so we can find out who's to blame for this disaster that's fallen on us.” They drew lots and Jonah's name was came up.
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 So they asked him, “Tell us who is responsible for this trouble that we're in. What do you do for a living? Where are you from? What is your country? What is your nationality?”
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 “I am a Hebrew,” Jonah replied, “and I worship the Lord, the God of the heavens, the sea, and the 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 The sailors became even more terrified and said to Jonah, “What have you done?” because Jonah had explained to them that he was running away from the Lord.
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 “What shall we do to you to calm the storm?” they asked him, since the storm was getting worse.
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 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” Jonah replied. “Then the sea will become calm, because I know it's because of me that you're in this terrible storm.”
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 Instead the sailors tried to row to get back to the shore, but they couldn't because the sea had become so wild from the worsening storm.
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 Then they called out to the Lord, “Lord! Please don't kill us for sacrificing this man's life or for spilling innocent blood, for you, Lord, made it happen.”
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 picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it became calm.
15 So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.
16 The sailors were overcome with fear. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made many promises to him.
16 Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.
17 The Lord sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish.
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)