1:1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai,

saying,

1:2 Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come

to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me.

1:3 And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the

Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to

Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went

down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord.

1:4 And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there

was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in

danger of being broken.

1:5 Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his

god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to

make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost

part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep.

1:6 And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are

you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance

God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to

destruction.

1:7 And they said to one another, Come, let us put this to the

decision of chance and see on whose account this evil has come

on us. So they did so, and Jonah was seen to be the man.

1:8 Then they said to him, Now make clear to us what is your

work, and where you come from? what is your country, and who

are your people?

1:9 And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the

Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

1:10 And the men were in great fear, and they said to him, What

is this you have done? For the men had knowledge of his flight

from the Lord because he had not kept it from them.

1:11 And they said to him, What are we to do to you so that the

sea may become calm for us? For the sea was getting rougher and

rougher.

1:12 And he said to them, Take me up and put me into the sea,

and the sea will become calm for you: for I am certain that

because of me this great storm has come on you.

1:13 And the men were working hard to get back to the land, but

they were not able to do so: for the sea got rougher and

rougher against them.

1:14 So, crying to the Lord, they said, Give ear to our prayer,

O Lord, give ear, and do not let destruction overtake us

because of this man's life; do not put on us the sin of taking

life without cause: for you, O Lord, have done what seemed good

to you.

1:15 So they took Jonah up and put him into the sea: and the sea

was no longer angry.

1:16 Then great was the men's fear of the Lord; and they made an

offering to the Lord and took oaths to him.

1:17 And the Lord made ready a great fish to take Jonah into its

mouth; and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three

nights.

2:1 Then Jonah made prayer to the Lord his God from the inside

of the fish, and said,

2:2 In my trouble I was crying to the Lord, and he gave me an

answer; out of the deepest underworld I sent up a cry, and you

gave ear to my voice.

2:3 For you have put me down into the deep, into the heart of

the sea; and the river was round about me; all your waves and

your rolling waters went over me.

2:4 And I said, I have been sent away from before your eyes; how

may I ever again see your holy Temple?

2:5 The waters were circling round me, even to the neck; the

deep was about me; the sea-grass was twisted round my head.

2:6 I went down to the bases of the mountains; as for the earth,

her walls were about me for ever: but you have taken up my life

from the underworld, O Lord my God.

2:7 When my soul in me was overcome, I kept the memory of the

Lord: and my prayer came in to you, into your holy Temple.

2:8 The worshippers of false gods have given up their only hope.

2:9 But I will make an offering to you with the voice of praise;

I will give effect to my oaths. Salvation is the Lord's.

2:10 And at the Lord's order, the fish sent Jonah out of its

mouth on to the dry land.

3:1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time,

saying,

3:2 Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and give it the word

which I have given you.

3:3 So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh as the Lord had said.

Now Nineveh was a very great town, three days' journey from end

to end.

3:4 And Jonah first of all went a day's journey into the town,

and crying out said, In forty days destruction will overtake

Nineveh.

3:5 And the people of Nineveh had belief in God; and a time was

fixed for going without food, and they put on haircloth, from

the greatest to the least.

3:6 And the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he got up from

his seat of authority, and took off his robe, and covering

himself with haircloth, took his seat in the dust.

3:7 And he had it given out in Nineveh, By the order of the king

and his great men, no man or beast, herd or flock, is to have a

taste of anything; let them have no food or water:

3:8 And let man and beast be covered with haircloth, and let

them make strong prayers to God: and let everyone be turned

from his evil way and the violent acts of their hands.

3:9 Who may say that God will not be turned, changing his

purpose and turning away from his burning wrath, so that

destruction may not overtake us?

3:10 And God saw what they did, how they were turned from their

evil way; and God's purpose was changed as to the evil which he

said he would do to them, and he did it not.

4:1 But this seemed very wrong to Jonah, and he was angry.

4:2 And he made prayer to the Lord and said, O Lord, is this not

what I said when I was still in my country? This is why I took

care to go in flight to Tarshish: for I was certain that you

were a loving God, full of pity, slow to be angry and great in

mercy, and ready to be turned from your purpose of evil.

4:3 So now, O Lord, give ear to my prayer and take my life from

me; for death is better for me than life.

4:4 And the Lord said, Have you any right to be angry?

4:5 Then Jonah went out of the town, and took his seat on the

east side of the town and made himself a roof of branches and

took his seat under its shade till he saw what would become of

the town.

4:6 And the Lord God made a vine come up over Jonah to give him

shade over his head. And Jonah was very glad because of the

vine.

4:7 But early on the morning after, God made ready a worm for

the destruction of the vine, and it became dry and dead.

4:8 Then when the sun came up, God sent a burning east wind: and

so great was the heat of the sun on his head that Jonah was

overcome, and, requesting death for himself, said, Death is

better for me than life.

4:9 And the Lord said to Jonah, Have you any right to be angry

about the vine? And he said, I have a right to be truly angry.

4:10 And the Lord said, You had pity on the vine, for which you

did no work and for the growth of which you were not

responsible; which came up in a night and came to an end in a

night;

4:11 And am I not to have mercy on Nineveh, that great town, in

which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons

without the power of judging between right and left, as well as

much cattle?