AB - Jonah

Chapter 1

1:1  Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

1:2  Rise, and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it; for the cry of its wickedness has come up before Me.

1:3  But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: and he paid his fare, and went up into it, to sail with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

1:4  And the Lord raised up a wind on the sea; and there was a great storm on the sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken.

1:5  And the sailors were alarmed, and cried everyone to his god, and cast out the wares that were in the ship into the sea, that it might be lightened of them. But Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, and was asleep, and snored.

1:6  And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, Why do you snore? Arise, and call upon your God, that God may save us, and we perish not.

1:7  And each man said to his neighbor, Come, let us cast lots, and find out for whose sake this mischief is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

1:8  And they said to him, Tell us, what is your occupation, and where do you come from, and of what country and of what people are you?

1:9  And he said to them, I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea, and the dry land.

1:10  Then the men feared exceedingly, and said to him, What is this that you have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord, because he had told them.

1:11  And they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us? For the sea rose, and lifted its waves exceedingly.

1:12  And Jonah said to them, Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm for you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

1:13  And the men tried hard to return to the land, and were not able: for the sea rose and grew more and more tempestuous against them.

1:14  And they cried to the Lord, and said, Forbid it, Lord: let us not perish for the sake of this man's life, and bring not righteous blood upon us: for You, O Lord, have done as You willed.

1:15  So they took Jonah, and cast him out into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.

1:16  And the men feared the Lord very greatly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows.

1:17  (2:1) Now the Lord had commanded a great whale to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.

Chapter 2

2:1  (2:2) And Jonah prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the whale,

2:2  (2:3) and said, I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and He hearkened unto me, even to my cry out of the belly of hell: You heard my voice.

2:3  (2:4) For You have cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and the floods compassed me: all Your billows and Your waves have passed upon me.

2:4  (2:5) And I said, I am cast out of Your presence: shall I indeed look again toward Your holy temple?

2:5  (2:6) Water was poured around me to the soul: the lowest deep compassed me, my head went down

2:6  (2:7) to the clefts of the mountains; I went down into the earth, whose bars are the everlasting barriers: yet, O Lord my God, let my ruined life be restored.

2:7  (2:8) When my soul was failing me, I remembered the Lord; and may my prayer come to You into Your holy temple.

2:8  (2:9) Those that observe vanities and lies have forsaken their own mercy.

2:9  (2:10) But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of praise and thanksgiving: all that I have vowed I will pay to You, the Lord of my salvation.

2:10  (2:11) And the whale was commanded by the Lord, and it cast up Jonah on the dry land.

Chapter 3

3:1  And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,

3:2  Rise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it according to the former preaching which I spoke to you of.

3:3  And Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, as the Lord had spoken. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, of about three days' journey.

3:4  And Jonah began to enter into the city about a day's journey, and he preached, and said, Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

3:5  And the men of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

3:6  And the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from off his throne, and took off his robe, and put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.

3:7  And proclamation was made, and it was commanded in Nineveh by the king and by his great men, saying, Let not men, or cattle, or oxen, or sheep, taste any thing, nor feed, nor drink water.

3:8  So men and cattle were clothed with sackcloth, and cried earnestly to God; and they turned everyone from their evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands, saying,

3:9  Who knows if God will relent, and turn from His fierce anger, and so we shall not perish?

3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; and God relented of the evil which He had said He would do to them; and He did it not.

Chapter 4

4:1  But Jonah was very deeply grieved, and he was confounded.

4:2  And he prayed to the Lord, and said, O Lord, were not these my words when I was yet in my land? Therefore I made haste to flee to Tarshish; because I knew that You are merciful and compassionate, long suffering, and abundant in kindness, and relent of bringing about evil.

4:3  And now, Lord God, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

4:4  And the Lord said to Jonah, Are you very much grieved?

4:5  And Jonah went out from the city, and sat over against the city; and he made for himself there a booth, and he sat under it, until he should perceive what would become of the city.

4:6  And the Lord God commanded a gourd, and it came up over the head of Jonah, to be a shadow over his head, to shade him from his calamities: and Jonah rejoiced with great joy for the gourd.

4:7  And God commanded a worm the next morning, and it smote the gourd, and it withered away.

4:8  And it came to pass at the rising of the sun, that God commanded a burning east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, and he fainted, and despaired of his life, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

4:9  And God said to Jonah, Are you very much grieved for the gourd? And he said, I am very much grieved, even to death.

4:10  And the Lord said, you had pity on the gourd, for which you have not suffered, neither did you rear it; which came up before night, and perished before another night:

4:11  and shall not I spare Nineveh, the great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of human beings, who do not know their right hand or their left hand; and also much cattle?