Bible (American Standard)/Jonah

Jonah
==Chapter 1==
 Now the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the son of
Amittai, saying, 
 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,
and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence
of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to
Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to
go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. 
 But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be
broken. 
 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man
unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the
ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone
down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was
fast asleep. 
 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto
him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if
so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 
 And
they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots,
that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they
cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 
 Then said they
unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is
upon us; what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what
is thy country? and of what people art thou? 
 And he said
unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven,
who hath made the sea and the dry land. 
 Then were the men
exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this that thou
hast done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the
presence of Jehovah, because he had told them. 
 Then said
they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be
calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 
 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the
sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my
sake this great tempest is upon you. 
 Nevertheless, the men
rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not: for
the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 
 Wherefore they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O
Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life,
and lay not upon us innocent blood; for thou, O Jehovah, hast
done as it pleased thee. 
 So they took up Jonah, and cast
him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.
 Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly; and they offered
a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows. 
 And Jehovah
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the
belly of the fish three days and three nights.
==Chapter 2==
 Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the
fish's belly. 
 And he said, I called by reason of mine
affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of
Sheol cried I, [And] thou heardest my voice. 
 For thou
didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the
flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed
over me. 
 And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes;
Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 
 The waters
compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about
me; The weeds were wrapped about my head. 
 I went down to
the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars [closed]
upon me for ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit,
O Jehovah my God. 
 When my soul fainted within me, I
remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy
holy temple. 
 They that regard lying vanities Forsake their
own mercy. 
 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice
of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation
is of Jehovah. 
 And Jehovah spake unto the fish, and it
vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
==Chapter 3==
 And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second
time, saying, 
 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and
preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 
 So Jonah
arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah.
Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey.
 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey,
and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown. 
 And the people of Nineveh believed God; and
they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest
of them even to the least of them. 
 And the tidings reached
the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his
robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
 And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by
the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man
nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed,
nor drink water; 
 but let them be covered with sackcloth,
both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let
them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence
that is in his hands. 
 Who knoweth whether God will not
turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we
perish not? 
 And God saw their works, that they turned
from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said
he would do unto them; and he did it not.
==Chapter 4==
 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
 And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O
Jehovah, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?
Therefore, I hasted to flee unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou
art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in
lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 
 Therefore,
now, O Jehovah, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is
better for me to die than to live. 
 And Jehovah said, Doest
thou well to be angry? 
 Then Jonah went out of the city,
and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a
booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what
would become of the city. 
 And Jehovah God prepared a
gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a
shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah
was exceeding glad because of the gourd. 
 But God prepared
a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the
gourd, that it withered. 
 And it came to pass, when the sun
arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat
upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for
himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die
than to live. 
 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be
angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even
unto death. 
 And Jehovah said, Thou hast had regard for
the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it
grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 
 and should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city,
wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot
discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also
much cattle?