Jonah 1:6

Contemporary English Version

The ship's captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep at a time like this? Get up and pray to your God! Maybe he will have pity on us and keep us from drowning."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The captain approached him and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up! Call to your god. Maybe this god will consider us, and we won’t perish.”

Hebrew Names Version
So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your gods! Maybe the gods will notice us, so that we won't perish."

King James Version (1611)
So the shipmaster came to him, and said vnto him; What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call vpon thy God, if so be that God wil thinke vpon vs, that we perish not.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish."

New American Standard Bible
So the captain approached him and said, "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish."

New Century Version
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!"

Amplified Bible
So the captain came up to him and said, "How can you stay asleep? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god will give a thought to us so that we will not perish."

Geneva Bible (1587)
So the shipmaster came to him, and saide vnto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call vpon thy God, if so be that God wil thinke vpon vs, that we perish not.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So the captain approached him and said, "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish."

Legacy Standard Bible
So the captain came near to him and said to him, "How is it that you are deeply sleeping? Arise, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish."

Berean Standard Bible
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."

Complete Jewish Bible
The ship's captain found him and said to him, "What do you mean by sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Maybe the god will remember us, and we won't die."

Darby Translation
And the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, sleeper? arise, call upon thy God; perhaps God will think upon us, that we perish not.

Easy-to-Read Version
The captain of the boat saw Jonah and said, "Wake up! Why are you sleeping? Pray to your god! Maybe your god will hear your prayer and save us!"

George Lamsa Translation
So the captain came to him and said to him, Why are you sleeping? Arise, call upon your God, perhaps God will deliver us, that we perish not.

Good News Translation
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."

Lexham English Bible
And the captain of the ship approached him and said to him, "Why are you sound asleep? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god will take notice of us and we won't perish!"

Literal Translation
And the chief of the seamen came near to him and said to him, What is it to you, O fast sleeping one? Rise up and cry out to your God! Perhaps our god will notice us, and we will not perish.

American Standard Version
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.

Bible in Basic English
And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him: 'What meanest thou that thou sleepest? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.'

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the shippe maister came to him, and saide: What meanest thou sleeper? Up, and call vpon thy God, if so be that God wyl shine vnto vs, that we perishe not.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, Why snorest thou? arise, and call upon thy God, that God may save us, and we perish not.

English Revised Version
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.

World English Bible
So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your gods! Maybe the gods will notice us, so that we won't perish."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the gouernour cam to him, and seide to hym, Whi art thou cast doun in sleep? rise thou, clepe thi God to help, if perauenture God ayenthenke of vs, and we perische not.

Update Bible Version
So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, What do you mean, O sleeper? arise, call on your God, perhaps God will think on us, that we will not perish.

Webster's Bible Translation
So the ship-master came to him, and said to him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, it may be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

New English Translation
The ship's captain approached him and said, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!"

New King James Version
So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."

New Living Translation
So the captain went down after him. "How can you sleep at a time like this?" he shouted. "Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives."

New Life Bible
So the captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god. It may be that your god will care about us, and we will not die."

New Revised Standard
The captain came and said to him, "What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then drew near unto him the shipmaster, and said to him, What meanest thou, O sound sleeper? Arise, cry unto thy God, Peradventure God will bethink himself of us, that we perish not.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the ship master came to him and said to him: Why art thou fast asleep? rise up call upon thy God, if so be that God will think of us that we may not perish.

Revised Standard Version
So the captain came and said to him, "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call upon your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we do not perish."

Young's Literal Translation
And the chief of the company draweth near to him, and saith to him, `What -- to thee, O sleeper? rise, call unto thy God, it may be God doth bethink himself of us, and we do not perish.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
So the master of the shippe came to him and sayde vnto him: why slomberest thou? Vp, call vpon thy God: yf God (happly) wil thynke vpon vs, that we peryshe not.

Contextual Overview

⁴ But the Lord made a strong wind blow, and such a bad storm came up that the ship was about to be broken to pieces. ⁵ The sailors were frightened, and they all started praying to their gods. They even threw the ship's cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. All this time, Jonah was down below deck, sound asleep. ⁶ The ship's captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep at a time like this? Get up and pray to your God! Maybe he will have pity on us and keep us from drowning." ⁷ Finally, the sailors got together and said, "Let's ask our gods to show us who caused all this trouble." It turned out to be Jonah. ⁸ They started asking him, "Are you the one who brought all this trouble on us? What business are you in? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?" ⁹ Jonah answered, "I'm a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." ¹⁰ When the sailors heard this, they were frightened, because Jonah had already told them he was running from the Lord . Then they said, "Do you know what you have done?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

What: Isaiah 3:15, Ezekiel 18:2, Acts 21:13, Romans 13:11, Ephesians 5:14

arise: Psalms 78:34, Psalms 107:6, Psalms 107:12, Psalms 107:13, Psalms 107:18-20, Psalms 107:28, Psalms 107:29, Jeremiah 2:27, Jeremiah 2:28, Mark 4:37-41

if: Jonah 3:9, 2 Samuel 12:22, Esther 4:16, Joel 2:11, Amos 5:15

Reciprocal: Genesis 20:16 - thus Exodus 4:13 - send Proverbs 20:13 - open Joel 2:14 - Who Jonah 1:5 - cried Jonah 3:8 - cry Matthew 8:25 - save Matthew 25:5 - they Matthew 26:43 - for Mark 14:37 - Simon Luke 22:46 - Why sleep ye Acts 8:22 - if Acts 20:9 - being Acts 27:27 - the shipmen 1 Corinthians 15:34 - Awake 1 Thessalonians 5:6 - let us not Revelation 18:17 - And every

Cross-References

Genesis 1:5
and named the light "Day" and the darkness "Night." Evening came and then morning—that was the first day.

Genesis 1:6

The Second Day

God said, "I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it."

Genesis 1:7
And that's what happened. God made the dome

Genesis 1:8
and named it "Sky." Evening came and then morning—that was the second day.

Genesis 1:11
God said, "I command the earth to produce all kinds of plants, including fruit trees and grain." And that's what happened.

Genesis 1:12
The earth produced all kinds of vegetation. God looked at what he had done, and it was good.

Genesis 1:13
Evening came and then morning—that was the third day.

Genesis 1:14

The Fourth Day

God said, "I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years.

Genesis 1:20

The Fifth Day

God said, "I command the ocean to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth."

Genesis 1:22
Then he gave the living creatures his blessing—he told the ocean creatures to live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to live everywhere on earth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

So the shipmaster came to him,.... The master of the vessel, who had the command of it; or the governor of it, as Jarchi; though Josephus d distinguishes between the governor and the shipmaster: "the master of the ropers" e, as it may be rendered; of the sailors, whose business it was to draw the ropes, to loose or gather the sails, at his command: missing him, very probably, he sought after him, and found him in the hold, in the bottom of the ship, on one side of it, fast asleep:

and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper? this is not a time to sleep, when the ship is like to be broke to pieces, all lives lost, and thine own too: thus the prophet, who was sent to rebuke the greatest monarch in the world, is himself rebuked by a shipmaster, and a Heathen man. Such an expostulation as this is proper enough to be used with professors of religion that are gotten in a spiritual sense into a sleepy and drowsy frame of spirit; it being an aggravation of it, especially when the nation they are of, the church of Christ they belong to, and their own persons also, are in danger; see Romans 13:11 Ephesians 5:14;

arise, call upon thy God; the gods of this shipmaster and his men were insufficient to help them; they had ears, but they heard not; nor could they answer them, or relieve them; he is therefore desirous the prophet would pray to his God, though he was unknown to him; or at least it suggests that it would better come him to awake, and be up, and praying to his God, than to lie sleeping there; and the manner in which the words are expressed, without a copulative, show the hurry of his spirit, the ardour of his mind, and the haste he was in to have that done he advises to: every good man has a God to pray unto, a covenant God and Father, and who is a prayer hearing God; is able to help in time of need, and willing to do it; and it is the duty and interest of such to call upon him in a time of trouble; yea, they should arise and stir up themselves to this service; and it may be observed, that the best of men may sometimes be in such a condition and circumstances as to need to be stirred up to it by others; see Luke 22:46;

if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not; the supreme God; for the gods they had prayed to they looked upon as mediators with the true God they knew not. The shipmaster saw, that, to all human probability, they were all lost men, just ready to perish; that if they were saved, (as who knew but they might, upon Jonah's praying to his God?) it must be owing to the kind thoughts of God towards them; to the serenity of his countenance, and gracious acceptance of prayer, and his being propitious and merciful through that means; all which seems to be the import of the word used: so the saving of sinners in a lost and perishing condition, in which all men are, though all are not sensible of it, is owing to God's thoughts of peace, to his good will, free favour, and rich grace in Christ Jesus, and through him, as the propitiatory sacrifice. The Targum is,

"if so be mercy may be granted from the Lord, and we perish not.''

d Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2.) e רב החבל "magister funalis", Munster; "magister funiculaiorum", so some in ;Mercer; "magister funis", Calvin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

What meanest thou? - or rather, “what aileth thee?” (literally “what is to thee?”) The shipmaster speaks of it (as it was) as a sort of disease, that he should be thus asleep in the common peril. “The shipmaster,” charged, as he by office was, with the common weal of those on board, would, in the common peril, have one common prayer. It was the prophet’s office to call the pagan to prayers and to calling upon God. God reproved the Scribes and Pharisees by the mouth of the children who “cried Hosanna” Matthew 21:15; Jonah by the shipmaster; David by Abigail; 1 Samuel 25:32-34; Naaman by his servants. Now too he reproves worldly priests by the devotion of laymen, sceptic intellect by the simplicity of faith.

If so be that God will think upon us - , (literally “for us”) i. e., for good; as David says, Psalms 40:17. “I am poor and needy, the Lord thinketh upon” (literally “for”) “me.” Their calling upon their own gods had failed them. Perhaps the shipmaster had seen something special about Jonah, his manner, or his prophet’s garb. He does not only call Jonah’s God, “thy” God, as Darius says to Daniel “thy God” Daniel 6:20, but also “the God,” acknowledging the God whom Jonah worshiped, to be “the God.” It is not any pagan prayer which he asks Jonah to offer. It is the prayer of the creature in its need to God who can help; but knowing its own ill-desert, and the separation between itself and God, it knows not whether He will help it. So David says Psalms 25:7, “Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions; according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.”

“The shipmaster knew from experience, that it was no common storm, that the surges were an infliction borne down from God, and above human skill, and that there was no good in the master’s skill. For the state of things needed another Master who ordereth the heavens, and craved the guidance from on high. So then they too left oars, sails, cables, gave their hands rest from rowing, and stretched them to heaven and called on God.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. The shipmaster — Either the captain or the pilot.

Arise, call upon thy God — He supposed that Jonah had his god, as well as they had theirs; and that, as the danger was imminent, every man should use the influence he had, as they were all equally involved in it.