New Century Version NCV
Good News Translation GNT
1 The Lord spoke his word to Jonah son of Amittai:
1
One day the Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai.
2 "Get up, go to the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it, because I see the evil things they do."
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He said, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against it; I am aware of how wicked its people are."
3 But Jonah got up to run away from the Lord by going to Tarshish. He went to the city of Joppa, where he found a ship that was going to the city of Tarshish. Jonah paid for the trip and went aboard, planning to go to Tarshish to run away from the Lord.
3
Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, which made the sea so stormy that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.
4
But the Lord sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up.
5 The sailors were afraid, and each man cried to his own god. They began throwing the cargo from the ship into the sea to make the ship lighter. But Jonah had gone down far inside the ship to lie down, and he fell fast asleep.
5
The sailors were terrified and cried out for help, each one to his own god. Then, in order to lessen the danger, they threw the cargo overboard. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone below and was lying in the ship's hold, sound asleep.
6 The captain of the ship came and said, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray to your god! Maybe your god will pay attention to us, and we won't die!"
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The captain found him there and said to him, "What are you doing asleep? Get up and pray to your god for help. Maybe he will feel sorry for us and spare our lives."
7 Then the men said to each other, "Let's throw lots to see who caused these troubles to happen to us." When they threw lots, the lot showed that the trouble had happened because of Jonah.
7
The sailors said to each other, "Let's draw lots and find out who is to blame for getting us into this danger." They did so, and Jonah's name was drawn.
8 Then they said to him, "Tell us, who caused our trouble? What is your job? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?"
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So they said to him, "Now, then, tell us! Who is to blame for this? What are you doing here? What country do you come from? What is your nationality?"
9 Then Jonah said to them, "I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
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"I am a Hebrew," Jonah answered. "I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made land and sea."
10 The men were very afraid, and they asked Jonah, "What terrible thing did you do?" (They knew he was running away from the Lord because he had told them.)
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Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the Lord. The sailors were terrified, and said to him, "That was an awful thing to do!"
11 Since the wind and the waves of the sea were becoming much stronger, they said to him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"
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The storm was getting worse all the time, so the sailors asked him, "What should we do to you to stop the storm?"
12 Jonah said to them, "Pick me up, and throw me into the sea, and then it will calm down. I know it is my fault that this great storm has come on you."
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Jonah answered, "Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm."
13 Instead, the men tried to row the ship back to the land, but they could not, because the sea was becoming more stormy.
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Instead, the sailors tried to get the ship to shore, rowing with all their might. But the storm was becoming worse and worse, and they got nowhere.
14 So the men cried to the Lord, "Lord, please don't let us die because of this man's life; please don't think we are guilty of killing an innocent person. Lord, you have caused all this to happen; you wanted it this way."
14
So they cried out to the Lord, "O Lord, we pray, don't punish us with death for taking this man's life! You, O Lord, are responsible for all this; it is your doing."
15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea became calm.
15
Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it calmed down at once.
16 Then they began to fear the Lord very much; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made promises to him.
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This made the sailors so afraid of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice and promised to serve him.
17 The Lord caused a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
17
At the Lord's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.