- The word of the LORD came to Jonah son
of Amittai:
- "Go to the great city of Nineveh and
preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."
- But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed
for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that
port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee
from the LORD.
- Then the LORD sent a great wind on the
sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
- All the sailors were afraid and each cried
out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the
ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep
sleep.
- The captain went to him and said, "How
can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of
us, and we will not perish."
- Then the sailors said to each other, "Come,
let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity."
They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
- So they asked him, "Tell us, who is
responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do
you come from? What is your country ? From what people are you ?"
- He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I
worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
- This terrified them and they asked, "What
have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because
he had already told them so.)
- The sea was getting rougher and rougher.
So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down
for us ?"
- "Pick me up and throw me into the
sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is
my fault that this great storm has come upon you."
- Instead, the men did their best to row
back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
- Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD,
please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable
for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased."
- Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard,
and the raging sea grew calm.
- At this the men greatly feared the LORD,
and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
- But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow
Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
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