Jonah Flees from the LORD (Nahum 1:1–15)
1 UST There was a man named Jonah, the son of Amittai. It happened{ one day} that Yahweh spoke to him. This is what Yahweh said: BSB BSB: Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
2 UST “I have seen that the people of Nineveh are continually doing things that are very evil. Therefore, get moving. Go to Nineveh, that huge capital city{ of Assyria}, and proclaim to the people there that I am planning to punish them for their evil actions.” BSB BSB: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
3 UST So Jonah went,{ but in the opposite direction,} towards the{ far- away} city of Tarshish, thinking that he could get away from Yahweh there. He went down to{ the port at} the city of Joppa and found a ship that was about to go to Tarshish. The captain of the ship asked him for money, and he gave it to him. Then he went down into the ship in order to go with the crew of the ship to Tarshish, in order to get away from Yahweh. BSB BSB: Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
The Great Storm (Acts 27:13–26)
4 UST But Yahweh caused a strong wind to blow over the sea, and such an enormous storm happened that the waves were about to break the ship apart. BSB BSB: Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.
5 UST The sailors were frightened and each one prayed loudly to the god that he worshiped{ for that god to save them from the storm}. They even threw the cargo from the ship into the sea in order to make the ship lighter, so that it would not so easily{ take on water and} sink. While all of this was going on, Jonah was down inside the ship, lying down and sleeping soundly! BSB BSB: The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
6 UST Then the captain of the crew went down to where Jonah was{ sleeping}. He{ wakened Jonah and} said to him,“Something must be wrong with you, to sleep during a storm like this! Get up! Pray earnestly to the god that you worship! Perhaps that god will think about us and save us.” BSB BSB: The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 UST After a while the sailors started to say to each other,“We need to cast lots, to determine who has caused this terrible thing to happen to us!” They all agreed, so they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah. BSB BSB: “Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 UST So the sailors said these things to Jonah:“You must tell us who has caused this terrible thing to happen to us. What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What country are you from? What group of people do you belong to?” BSB BSB: “Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”
9 UST Jonah answered them,“I am a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh, the{ One True} God who lives in heaven. He is the one who made both the sea and the land.” BSB BSB: “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 UST Jonah also told the sailors that he was trying to get away from Yahweh{ in order to avoid doing something that Yahweh had told him to do}. So now{, when they learned that Yahweh was the one controlling the sea,} they were terrified. One of the sailors said to Jonah,“You have done a terrible thing!{ Now we are all about to die because of you!}” BSB BSB: Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Jonah Cast into the Sea 11 UST The storm continued to become worse, and the waves continued to become bigger. So one of the sailors asked Jonah,“What should we do to you so that the sea might calm down and stop threatening us?” BSB BSB: Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?”
12 UST Jonah told them,“Pick me up and throw me into the sea. If you do that, the sea will calm down and stop threatening you. This will work because I am certain that this terrible storm happened to you because I did not do what Yahweh told me to do.” BSB BSB: “Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.”
13 UST But the sailors{ did not want to do that. Instead, they} tried hard to row the ship back to the land. But they could not do it because the waves became even bigger and stronger against them. BSB BSB: Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.
14 UST Finally, all of the sailors prayed to Yahweh,“O Yahweh, you are the one controlling all of these things{ that have happened to us, including this storm and the lot that we cast}. Therefore we beg you, Yahweh, please do not let us die because of this man. No, do not kill us for killing someone who has done nothing against us.” BSB BSB: So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”
15 UST Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. Immediately, the sea became calm. BSB BSB: Then they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.
16 UST When that happened, the sailors became greatly awed{ at how powerful Yahweh was}. They offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and solemnly promised to worship him. BSB BSB: Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.