| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1The LORD said to Jonah son of Amittai, | 1The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: |
| 2"Go immediately to Nineveh, that large capital city, and announce judgment against its people because their wickedness has come to my attention." | 2“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” |
| 3Instead, Jonah immediately headed off to Tarshish to escape from the commission of the LORD. He traveled to Joppa and found a merchant ship heading to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard it to go with them to Tarshish far away from the LORD. | 3But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish. |
| 4But the LORD hurled a powerful wind on the sea. Such a violent tempest arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break up! | 4But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. |
| 5The sailors were so afraid that each cried out to his own god and they flung the ship's cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold below deck, had lain down, and was sound asleep. | 5Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. |
| 6The ship's captain approached him and said, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!" | 6So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.” |
| 7The sailors said to one another, "Come on, let's cast lots to find out whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us." So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. | 7Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. |
| 8They said to him, "Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? What's your occupation? Where do you come from? What's your country? And who are your people?" | 8“Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?” |
| 9He said to them, "I am a Hebrew! And I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." | 9Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” |
| 10Hearing this, the men became even more afraid and said to him, "What have you done?" (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape from the LORD, because he had previously told them.) | 10The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the LORD. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. |
| 11Because the storm was growing worse and worse, they said to him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" | 11And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?” |
| 12He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, because I know it's my fault you are in this severe storm." | 12“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.” |
| 13Instead, they tried to row back to land, but they were not able to do so because the storm kept growing worse and worse. | 13Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. |
| 14So they cried out to the LORD, "Oh, please, LORD, don't let us die on account of this man! Don't hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. After all, you, LORD, have done just as you pleased." | 14Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah’s God. “O LORD,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.” |
| 15So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. | 15Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! |
| 16The men feared the LORD greatly, and earnestly vowed to offer lavish sacrifices to the Lord. | 16The sailors were awestruck by the LORD’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. |
| 17The LORD sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. | 17 Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. |
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