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.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.”
- NASB Then they cried out to the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, Lord, have done as You pleased.”
- NLT Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sailors pray to Yahweh, begging not to be held guilty for Jonah's death. It matters because the pagan crew now calls on the true God by name, submitting to His sovereign will.
Overview
Their prayer acknowledges Yahweh's authority and His freedom to do as He pleases, a remarkable confession from former idolaters. They appeal against bearing 'innocent blood,' showing tender consciences and reverence for life. God's pursuit of one wayward prophet has become the means of leading these Gentiles to call upon Him, foreshadowing the gospel's reach to the nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 115:3Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.
- Ps 135:6The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
- Deut 21:8Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.
- Eph 1:11In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- Ps 107:28Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.
- Jonah 1:16Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.
- Matt 11:26Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
- Dan 4:34–35But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
- Jonah 1:5The 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.
- Eph 1:9And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
- Gen 9:6Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- Acts 28:4When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
- Isa 26:16O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.
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Christ at the center
Three days in the belly of the fish is the sign Jesus gave of his own death and resurrection (Matt 12:40); and God's mercy on pagan Nineveh foreshadows the gospel going to the nations.
How Jonah 1:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.