= = DASV: Digital American Standard Version<= br>
= &nb= sp; = DASV: Jonah 1

¹ Now the wo= rd of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

² "Get = up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickednes= s has come up before me."

³ But Jonah = got up to flee to Tarshish away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a= ship going to Tarshish. Then he pa= id its fare and got aboard, to go with them to Tarshish seeking to flee from the presence of the LORD.

⁴ But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a severe storm, so that the ship was about to break up.<= o:p>

⁵ Then the s= ailors were afraid and each one cried to his god.= They threw the ship's cargo into the sea, to lighten the ship. But J= onah had gone below into the hold of the ship and had lain down and was fast asl= eep.

⁶ So the cap= tain came and said to him, "What are you doing sleeping? Get up, call on yo= ur God. Perhaps God will think a= bout us, so that we do not perish."

⁷ The sailors said to each other, "Come, and let us cast lots so that we may know who brought this disaster on us." So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jo= nah.

⁸ They deman= ded of him, "Tell us whose fault it is that this disaster has come on us? Wha= t is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your home country? From wh= at people are you?"

⁹ He told th= em, "I am a Hebrew. I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and t= he dry land."

¹⁰ Then the m= en were terrified, and asked him, "What have you done?" For the men knew = that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

¹¹ So they as= ked him, "What shall we do to you, to get this sea to calm down for us?&qu= ot; For the sea was growing more and more rough.

¹² He said to them, "Pick me up, and throw me overboard into the sea then the sea wi= ll be calm for you. I realize that = because of me this great storm has come on you."

¹³ Instead the men rowed even harder to get back to the land, but they could not do it bec= ause the sea grew more and more stormy against them.

¹⁴ So they cr= ied out to the LORD, and said, "We beg you, O LORD, we beg you, do not let us = die for this man's life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood, for you, O LO= RD, have done just as you pleased."

¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah, and threw him overboard into the sea. The s= ea stopped raging.

¹⁶ Then the m= en greatly feared the LORD. They offered a sacrifice to the LORD, and made vows.<= /o:p>

¹⁷ Now the LO= RD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of t= he fish three days and three nights.

= &nb= sp; = DASV: Jonah 2

¹ Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God out= of the fish's belly.

² He said, <= o:p>

&nb= sp; "I called to the LORD because of my distress,

&nb= sp; = and he answered me.

&nb= sp; Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

&nb= sp; = and you heard my voice.

³ &= nbsp; You threw me into the depths,

&nb= sp; = in the heart of the seas,

&nb= sp; the flood surrounded me;

&nb= sp; = all your breakers and waves passed over me.

⁴ &= nbsp; I said, 'I have been banished from your sight;

&nb= sp; = yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'

⁵ &= nbsp; The waters surrounded me, even up to my neck;

&nb= sp; = the deep was closing in on me;

&nb= sp; the weeds wrapped around my head.

⁶ &= nbsp; I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;

&nb= sp; = the earth with its bars closed in on me forever.

&nb= sp; Yet you have brought up my life from the pit,

&nb= sp; = O LORD my God.

⁷ &= nbsp; When my life was slipping away,

&nb= sp; = I remembered the LORD;

my prayer came in to you,

&nb= sp; = to your holy temple.

⁸ &= nbsp; Those who worship worthless idols

&nb= sp; = forsake their own mercy.

⁹ &= nbsp; But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving; <= /p>

&nb= sp; = I will fulfill that which I have vowed.

&nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Salvation is the LORD's."

¹⁰ Then the L= ORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out on the dry land.

= &nb= sp; = DASV: Jonah 3

¹ The word o= f the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,

² "Get = up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell yo= u."

³ So Jonah g= ot up, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was= a very great city, taking three days to walk through it.

⁴ When Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, he cried out, "In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown."

⁵ Now the pe= ople of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from= the greatest to the least of them.

⁶ When the news reached the king of Nineveh= , he arose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.

⁷ He issued a proclamation and published it throughout Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: let no person or animal, no herd or flock, taste anyth= ing. Do not let them eat anything or drink water.

⁸ Let every person and animal be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry earnestly to = God. Let everyone of them turn from his= evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

⁹ Who knows,= perhaps God will relent and change his mind, and turn away from his fierce anger so= that we do not perish?"

¹⁰ When God s= aw their works, that they turned from their evil way, God changed his mind abo= ut the disaster which he said he would do to them and he did it not do it.

= &nb= sp; = DASV: Jonah 4

¹ But Jonah was terribly displeased and he = became angry.

² He prayed = to the LORD, and said, "O LORD, is not this exactly what I said would happen, when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish; for I knew = that you are a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loyal love, and one who relents concerning disaster.

³ Therefore = now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

⁴ Then the L= ORD asked, "Are you right to be angry?"

⁵ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of it. There he made a shelter for himself, and sat under it = in the shade to see what would become of the city.

⁶ Now the LO= RD God prepared a plant, and made it to come up over Jonah, to give shade for = his head and to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very happy about the = plant.

⁷ But God se= nt a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the plant so that it withered.

⁸ When the s= un rose, God sent a scorching east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah's head unti= l he grew faint and requested that he might die, and said, "It is better fo= r me to die than to live."

⁹ Then God s= aid to Jonah, "Are you right to be angry concerning the plant?" He re= plied, "Yes, angry enough to die."

¹⁰ Then the L= ORD said, "You had compassion on the plant, for which you have not worked = or made it grow. It came up in a= night and perished in a night.

¹¹ Should I n= ot have had compassion on Nineveh, that great city, where there are more than = 120,000 people who cannot tell the difference between their right hand and their le= ft, along with many animals?"