Jonah 1:12-3:3

English Standard Version

¹²He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, ^(A)for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” ¹³Nevertheless, the men rowed hard^[a] 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 ^(B)lay not on us innocent blood, ^(C)for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” ¹⁵So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, ^(D)and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, ^(E)and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord ^(F)and made vows.

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

¹⁷^[b] And the Lord appointed^[c] a great fish to swallow up Jonah. ^(G)And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah's Prayer

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ²saying,

^(H)“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
    and he answered me;
^(I)out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
    ^(J)and you heard my voice.
³^(K)For you cast me into the deep,
    into the heart of the seas,
    and the flood surrounded me;
^(L)all your waves and your billows
    passed over me.
⁴^(M)Then I said, ‘I am driven away
    from your sight;
^(N)yet I shall again look
    upon your holy temple.’
⁵^(O)The waters closed in over me ^(P)to take my life;
    the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
⁶    at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
    whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
    O Lord my God.
⁷When my life was fainting away,
    I remembered the Lord,
^(Q)and my prayer came to you,
    into your holy temple.
⁸^(R)Those who pay regard to vain idols
    ^(S)forsake their hope of steadfast love.
⁹^(T)But I with the voice of thanksgiving
    will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
    ^(U)Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

¹⁰And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ²“Arise, go to ^(V)Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” ³So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now ^(W)Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,^[d] three days' journey in breadth.^[e]