| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1The LORD said to Jonah son of Amittai, | 1Now this message from the LORD came to Amittai's son Jonah: |
| 2"Go immediately to Nineveh, that large capital city, and announce judgment against its people because their wickedness has come to my attention." | 2"Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city! Then cry out in protest against it, because their evil has come to my attention." |
| 3Instead, Jonah immediately headed off to Tarshish to escape from the commission of the LORD. He traveled to Joppa and found a merchant ship heading to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard it to go with them to Tarshish far away from the LORD. | 3But Jonah got up and fled from the LORD to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, secured passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded, intending to go with the mariners to Tarshish to escape from the LORD. |
| 4But the LORD hurled a powerful wind on the sea. Such a violent tempest arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break up! | 4Then the LORD sent a great wind over the sea, and a severe storm broke out. It seemed as if the ship were about to break up. |
| 5The sailors were so afraid that each cried out to his own god and they flung the ship's cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold below deck, had lain down, and was sound asleep. | 5At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel. But Jonah had gone down into the vessel's hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep. |
| 6The ship's captain approached him and said, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!" | 6So the captain approached him, and told him, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Call on your gods! Maybe your god will think about us so we won't die!" |
| 7The sailors said to one another, "Come on, let's cast lots to find out whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us." So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. | 7Meanwhile, each crewman told another, "Come on! Let's cast lots to find out whose fault it is that we're in this trouble." So they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah! |
| 8They said to him, "Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? What's your occupation? Where do you come from? What's your country? And who are your people?" | 8So they interrogated him: "Tell us, why has this trouble come upon us? What's your occupation? Where'd you come from? What's your home country? What's your nationality?" |
| 9He said to them, "I am a Hebrew! And I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." | 9"I'm a Hebrew," he replied, "and I'm afraid of the LORD God of heaven, who made the sea—along with the dry land!" |
| 10Hearing this, the men became even more afraid and said to him, "What have you done?" (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape from the LORD, because he had previously told them.) | 10In mounting terror, the men asked him, "What have you done?" The men were aware that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had admitted this to them. |
| 11Because the storm was growing worse and worse, they said to him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" | 11Because the sea was growing more and more stormy, they asked him, "What do we have to do to you so the sea will calm down for us?" |
| 12He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, because I know it's my fault you are in this severe storm." | 12Jonah told them, "Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, because I know that it's my fault that this mighty storm has come upon you." |
| 13Instead, they tried to row back to land, but they were not able to do so because the storm kept growing worse and worse. | 13Even so, the crewmen rowed hard to bring the ship toward dry land, but they were unsuccessful, because the sea was growing more and more stormy. |
| 14So they cried out to the LORD, "Oh, please, LORD, don't let us die on account of this man! Don't hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. After all, you, LORD, have done just as you pleased." | 14At last they cried out to the LORD, "Please, LORD, do not let us perish because of this man's life, and do not hold us responsible for innocent blood, because you, LORD, have done what pleased you." |
| 15So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. | 15So they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. |
| 16The men feared the LORD greatly, and earnestly vowed to offer lavish sacrifices to the Lord. | 16Then the men feared the LORD greatly, offered a sacrifice to the LORD, and made vows. |
| 17The LORD sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. | 17 Now the LORD had prepared a large sea creature to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the sea creature for three days and three nights. |
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