1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. 4 Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart. 5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” 7 “Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 “Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?” 9 “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?” 12 “Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more. 14 So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.” 15 Then they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him. 17 Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.
Jonah · Majority Standard Bible
Jonah 1 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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)