THE BOOK JONAH
King James Version
1 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came unto
Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to
Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up
before me.
3 But Jonah rose
up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa;
and he 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 the LORD.
4 ¶ But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and
there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the
mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of
them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was
fast asleep.
6 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.
7
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.
8 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?
9 And he said
unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath
made the sea and the dry land.
10 Then were the
men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men
knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told
them.
11 ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee,
that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 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.
13
Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could
not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
14 Wherefore they
cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us
not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O
LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.
15
So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea
ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men
feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made
vows.
17 Now the LORD
had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in
the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
1 ¶ Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the
fish's belly,
2 And said, I
cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the
belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3
For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the
floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I
am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
5 The waters
compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about,
the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to
the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever:
yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
7 When my soul
fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into
thine holy temple.
8
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will
sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have
vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
10 ¶ And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out
Jonah upon the dry land.
1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second
time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto
Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose,
and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh
was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 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.
5 ¶ So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed
a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of
them.
6
For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne,
and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in
ashes.
7 And he caused
it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and
his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing:
let them not feed, nor drink water:
8
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto
God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that
is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if
God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish
not?
10
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God
repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did
it not.
1 ¶ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very
angry.
2 And he prayed
unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying,
when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew
that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now,
O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die
than to live.
4
Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 ¶ So 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 shadow,
till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD
God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his
grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God
prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that
it withered.
8 And it came to
pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die
than to live.
9 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.
10 Then said the
LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not
laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a
night:
11 And should not
I spare 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?