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Jonah Flees From the Lord
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
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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.)
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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?”
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“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.”
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Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
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Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”
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Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
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At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
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Jonah’s Prayer
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
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From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
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He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
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I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
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To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.
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“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
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But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
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And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
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Jonah Goes to Nineveh
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
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Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.
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Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
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The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
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When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
