¹Now the LORD ’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying ,[#1:1 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name.]

²“Arise , go to Nineveh , that great city , and proclaim against it , for their wickedness has come up before me .”

³But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD . He went down to Joppa , and found a ship going to Tarshish ; so he paid its fare , and went down into it , to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD .

⁴But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea , and there was a mighty storm on the sea , so that the ship was likely to break up .

⁵Then the mariners were afraid , and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship . But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship and he was laying down , and was fast asleep .

⁶So the ship master came to him , and said to him , “What do you mean, sleeper ? Arise , call on your God ! Maybe your God will notice us , so that we won’t perish.”[#1:6 or, gods; #1:6 or, gods]

⁷They all said to each other , “Come ! Let ’s cast lots , that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us .” So they cast lots , and the lot fell on Jonah .

⁸Then they asked him , “Tell us , please , for whose cause this evil is on us . What is your occupation ? Where do you come from ? What is your country? Of what people are you ?”

⁹He said to them , “I am a Hebrew , and I fear the LORD , the God of heaven , who has made the sea and the dry land .”[#1:9 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “” (Elohim).]

¹⁰Then the men were exceedingly afraid , and said to him , “What have you done ?” For the men knew that 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 be calm to us ?” For the sea grew more and more stormy .

¹²He said to them , “Take me up , and throw me into the sea . Then the sea will be calm for you ; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you .”

¹³Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land ; but they could not , for the sea grew more and more stormy against them .

¹⁴Therefore they cried to the LORD , and said , “We beg you , LORD , we beg you , don’t let us die for this man ’s life , and don’t lay on us innocent blood ; for you , LORD , have done as it pleased you .”

¹⁵So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea ; and the sea ceased its raging .

¹⁶Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly ; and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows .

¹⁷The LORD prepared a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.