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 Chapter 1
1:1 Now the word of the Lord came
to Jonas the son of Amathi, saying, 2
Rise, and go to Nineve, the great city, and preach in it; for the
cry of its wickedness is come up to me. 3
But Jonas rose up to flee to Tharsis from the presence of the
Lord. And he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tharsis: and he paid
his fare, and went up into it, to sail with them to Tharsis from the presence of
the Lord.
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. 5 And the sailors were
alarmed, and cried every one to his god, and cast out the wares that were in the
ship into the sea, that it might be lightened of them. But Jonas was gone down
into the hold of the ship, and was asleep, and snored.
6 And the shipmaster came to him, and
said to him, Why snorest thou? arise, and call upon thy God, that God may save
us, and we perish not. 7 And each
man said to his neighbour, 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 Jonas.
8 And they said to him, Tell us what is
thine occupation, and whence comest thou, and of what country and what people
art thou? 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. 10
Then the men feared exceedingly, and said to him, What is this that thou
hast done? for the men knew that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord,
because he had told them. 11 And
they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? for
the sea rose, and lifted its wave exceedingly. 12
And Jonas said to them, Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and
the sea shall be calm to you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is
upon you.
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. 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 thou, Lord, hast done as
thou wouldest. 15 So they took
Jonas, and cast him out into the sea: and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 And the men feared the Lord very
greatly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows.
Chapter 2
2:1 Now the Lord had commanded a great
whale to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days
and three nights.
2 And Jonas prayed to the Lord his God
out of the belly of the whale, 3 and
said,
I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he hearkened
to me, even to my cry out of the belly of hell: thou heardest my voice.
4 Thou didst cast me into the depths
of the heart of the sea, and the floods compassed me: all thy billows and thy
waves have passed upon me. 5 And I
said, I am cast out of thy presence: shall I indeed look again toward thy holy
temple? 6 Water was poured around me
to the soul: the lowest deep compassed me, my head went down
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.
8 When my soul was failing me, I
remembered the Lord; and may my prayer come to thee into thy holy temple.
9 They that observe vanities and lies have
forsaken their own mercy. 10 But I
will sacrifice to thee with the voice of praise and thanksgiving: all that I
have vowed I will pay to thee, the Lord of my salvation.
11 And the whale was commanded by the
Lord, and it cast up Jonas on the dry land.
Chapter 3
3:1 And the word of the Lord came to
Jonas the second time, saying, 2
Rise, go to Nineve, the great city, and preach in it according to the former
preaching which I spoke to thee of. 3
And Jonas arose, and went to Nineve, as the Lord had spoken. Now
Nineve was an exceeding great city, of about three days’ journey.
4 And Jonas began to enter into the city
about a day’s journey, and he proclaimed, and said, Yet three days, and Nineve
shall be overthrown.
5 And the men of Nineve believed God,
and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloths, from the greatest of them to the
least of them. 6 And the word
reached the king of Nineve, and he arose from off his throne, and took off his
raiment from him, and put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.
7 And proclamation was made, and it was commanded in
Nineve by the king an by his great men, saying, Let not men, or cattle, or oxen,
or sheep, taste any thing, nor feed, nor drink water.
8 So men and cattle were clothed with
sackcloths, and cried earnestly to God; and they turned every one from their
evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands, saying,
9 Who knows if God will repent, and turn
from his fierce anger, and so we shall not perish?
10 And God saw their works, that they
turned from their evil ways; and God repented of the evil which he had said he
would do to them; and he did it not.
Chapter 4
4:1 But Jonas was very deeply grieved,
and he was confounded. 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 Tharsis; because I knew that thou are
merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and
repentest of evil. 3 And now, Lord
God, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 And the Lord said to Jonas, Art
thou very much grieved?
5 And Jonas 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.
6 And the Lord God commanded a gourd, and
it came up over the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, to shade him
from his calamities: and Jonas rejoiced with great joy for the gourd.
7 And God commanded a worm the next
morning, and it smote the gourd, and it withered away. 8
And it came to pass at the rising of the sun, that God
commanded a burning east wind; and the sun smote on the head of Jonas, and he
fainted, and despaired of his life, and said, It is better for me to die
than to live. 9 And God said to
Jonas, Art thou very much grieved for the gourd? And he said, I am very much
grieved, even to death.
10 And the Lord said, Thou hadst pity on
the gourd, for which thou has not suffered, neither didst thou rear it; which
came up before night, and perished before another night:
11 and shall not I spare Nineve, 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? |
