ACV - Jonah

Chapter 1

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

1:2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.

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

1:4  But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken.

1:5  Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man to his god. And they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it to them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep.

1:6  So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, What do thou mean, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we not perish.

1:7  And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

1:8  Then they said to him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And from where do thou come? What is thy country, and of what people are thou?

1:9  And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.

1:10  Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this that thou have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.

1:11  Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

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

1:13  Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get themselves back to the land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

1:14  Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, O Jehovah, have done as it pleased thee.

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

1:16  Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows.

1:17  And Jehovah prepared a great sea creature to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the sea creature three days and three nights.

Chapter 2

2:1  Then Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God out of the sea creatures belly.

2:2  And he said, I called because of my affliction to Jehovah, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and thou heard my voice.

2:3  For thou cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, and the flood was round about me. All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.

2:4  And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes. Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

2:5  The waters encompassed me around, even to the soul. The deep was round about me. The weeds were wrapped around my head.

2:6  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth with its bars closed upon me forever. Yet thou have brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.

2:7  When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah. And my prayer came in to thee, into thy holy temple.

2:8  Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

2:9  But I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.

2:10  And Jehovah spoke to the sea creature, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Chapter 3

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

3:2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the preaching that I bid thee.

3:3  So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, of three days' journey.

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

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

3:6  And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

3:7  And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed, nor drink water,

3:8  but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to God. Yea, let them turn each one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.

3:9  Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we not perish?

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

Chapter 4

4:1  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

4:2  And he prayed to Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that thou are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relent thee of the evil.

4:3  Therefore now, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.

4:4  And Jehovah said, Do thou well to be angry?

4:5  Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.

4:6  And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very glad because of the gourd.

4:7  But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

4:8  And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

4:9  And God said to Jonah, Do thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even to death.

4:10  And Jehovah said, Thou have had regard for the gourd, for which thou have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night.

4:11  And should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?