Jonah 1
1
Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord
1Now the word of the Lord came to #2 Kgs. 14:25Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2“Arise, go to #Gen. 10:11, 12; 2 Kgs. 19:36; Nah. 1:1; Zeph. 2:13; Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:30, 32 Nineveh, that #ch. 3:3; 4:11 great city, and call out against it, #Rev. 18:5for their evil#1:2 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jonah has come up before me.” 3But Jonah #ch. 4:2 rose to flee to #See 1 Kgs. 10:22 Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to #See Josh. 19:46 Joppa and found a ship going to #See 1 Kgs. 10:22 Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to #See 1 Kgs. 10:22 Tarshish, #Gen. 4:16; [Ps. 139:9, 10]away from the presence of the Lord.
4But #[Ps. 107:25] the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened #1 Kgs. 22:48; Ps. 48:7to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and #[Ps. 107:28] each cried out to his god. And #[Acts 27:18, 19, 38]they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, #[See ver. 5 above] call out to your god! #[ch. 3:9]Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea
7And they said to one another, “Come, let us #[Judg. 20:9]cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear #Rev. 11:13 the Lord, the God of heaven, #Ps. 146:6who made the sea and the dry land.” 10Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that #[See ver. 3 above]he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, #[Josh. 7:20]for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard#1:13 Hebrew the men dug in [their oars] to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and #Deut. 21:8 lay not on us innocent blood, #[Ps. 115:3]for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, #Ps. 65:7; Luke 8:24and the sea ceased from its raging. 16Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, #[Gen. 8:20; 31:54] and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord #See ch. 2:9and made vows.
A Great Fish Swallows Jonah
17 # 1:17 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew And the Lord appointed#1:17 Or had appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. #Matt. 12:40; 16:4; [Luke 11:30]And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Currently Selected:
Jonah 1: ESV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Sign up to receive news and updates about the ESV:
Jonah 1
1
1The Lord spoke#1:1. Literally, “the word of the Lord came to...” indicating a specific message delivered to a prophet. to Jonah the son of Amittai, telling him, 2“Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and condemn it because I have seen the wickedness of its people.” 3But Jonah left and ran away to Tarshish#1:3. Probably Tartessus on the southern coast of Spain. to get away from the Lord.#1:3. Literally, “from before the face of the Lord.” He was trying to remove himself from God's presence, showing that he was rejecting God's call. He went to Joppa where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board to sail to Tarshish in order to get away from the Lord.
4But the Lord sent a terrible wind across the sea, creating a violent storm that threatened to break up the ship. 5The sailors were terrified and each of them prayed to their own god to save them. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold where he had laid down and fallen fast asleep.
6The ship's captain went to Jonah and asked him, “How can you be sleeping? Get up and pray to your God. Maybe he will take notice of what's happening to us and we won't drown.” 7Then the sailors said to each other, “Let's draw lots#1:7. A process similar to drawing straws. so we can find out who's to blame for this disaster that's fallen on us.” They drew lots and Jonah's name was came up. 8So they asked him, “Tell us who is responsible for this trouble that we're in. What do you do for a living? Where are you from? What is your country? What is your nationality?”
9“I am a Hebrew,” Jonah replied, “and I worship#1:9. Literally, “fear.” the Lord, the God of the heavens, the sea, and the land.” 10The sailors became even more terrified and said to Jonah, “What have you done?” because Jonah had explained to them that he was running away from the Lord.
11“What shall we do to you to calm the storm?” they asked him, since the storm was getting worse. 12“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” Jonah replied. “Then the sea will become calm, because I know it's because of me that you're in this terrible storm.”
13Instead the sailors tried to row to get back to the shore, but they couldn't because the sea had become so wild from the worsening storm. 14Then they called out to the Lord,#1:14. The sailors use the same name for God as Jonah did, Yahweh, showing that they believe him to be responsible. “Lord! Please don't kill us for sacrificing this man's life or for spilling innocent blood, for you, Lord, made it happen.”#1:14. Or “it pleased you Lord to do this.”
15So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it became calm. 16The sailors were overcome with fear. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made many promises#1:16. Or “vows.” to him. 17The Lord sent a huge fish#1:17. Note that a whale is not mentioned. to swallow Jonah. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com