AFV2020 - Jonah

Chapter 1

1:1  And the Word of the LORD 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 the LORD. And he went down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to Tarshish. And he paid its fare, and went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

1:4  But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

1:5  Then the seamen were afraid, and each man cried to his god. And they threw out the wares that were in the ship, into the sea in order to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship; and he lay there, and was fast asleep.

1:6  So the chief of the seaman came to him and said to him, "Why are you sleeping, O sound sleeper? Arise, call upon your God! It may be that your God will notice us, and we will not perish."

1:7  And they said, each one to his fellow, "Come and let us cast lots, so that we may know who has caused this evil to come upon us." And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

1:8  Then they said to him, "Please tell us, for what reason this evil has come upon us. What is your business? And where do you come from? Where is your country? And of what people are you?"

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

1:10  Then the men were afraid with a great fear. And they said to him, "What is this you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD because he had told them.

1:11  Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?" For the sea was raging and growing more tempestuous.

1:12  And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me out into the sea. And the sea shall be calm to you; for I know that this great storm has come on you for my sake."

1:13  But the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more tempestuous against them.

1:14  And they cried to the LORD and said, "We beg You, O LORD, we beg You, let us not perish for this man's life, and do not lay upon us innocent blood, for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You."

1:15  And they lifted Jonah up and threw him out into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.

1:16  Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD, and vowed vows.

1:17  And the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Chapter 2

2:1  And Jonah prayed to the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

2:2  And he said, "I cried to the LORD by reason of mine affliction. And He answered me. Out of the belly of the unseen I cried for help, and You heard my voice,

2:3  For You cast me into the depths of the seas, and the current surrounded me. All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.

2:4  Then I said, 'I am cast off from Your eyes, yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.'

2:5  The waters encompassed me, even to the soul; the depth closed around me; the seaweed was wrapped about my head.

2:6  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars closed around me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the ruin, O LORD my God.

2:7  When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple.

2:8  They who take heed to lying vanities forsake their own mercy;

2:9  But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will fulfill that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the LORD!"

2:10  And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out on the dry land.

Chapter 3

3:1  And the Word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,

3:2  "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out to it the proclamation that I am declaring to you."

3:3  And Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the Word of the LORD. And Nineveh was a very great city of three days' journey across.

3:4  And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried 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  For word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne. And he laid aside his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

3:7  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his great ones, saying, "Do not let man or beast, herd or flock taste anything; do not let them feed, nor drink water.

3:8  But let man and animal be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God. And let them each one turn from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

3:9  Who knows? God may repent, and He may have pity and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we do not perish."

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

Chapter 4

4:1  But Jonah was exceedingly displeased, and it kindled anger in him.

4:2  And he prayed to the LORD and said, "Please, O LORD, was this not my saying when I was still in my land? Therefore on account of this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and One Who repents of the evil.

4:3  And now, O LORD, I beseech You, take my life from me, for better is my death than my life."

4:4  And the LORD said, "Is your anger rightly kindled in you?"

4:5  And Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east of the city. And he made himself a booth there and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would happen to the city.

4:6  And the LORD God prepared a plant, and it grew up over Jonah, to be shade over his head, in order to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah rejoiced with great joy over the plant.

4:7  But God also prepared a worm as the morning dawned the next day. And it attacked the plant, and it withered.

4:8  And it came to pass when the sun rose, God ordained a scorching east wind. And the sun beat on the head of Jonah, so that he fainted. And he asked for his life to die. And he said, "Better is my death than my life."

4:9  And God said to Jonah, "Is it right for your anger to be kindled over the plant?" And he said, "My anger is rightly kindled, even to death."

4:10  And the LORD said, "You have had pity on the plant, for which you had not labored, nor made it grow, which came up overnight, and also perished in a night.

4:11  And should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than a hundred and twenty thousand men who do not know between their right and their left hand, besides much livestock?"