The Book of the Prophet Jonah 1 The Calling of Jonah; His Flight and His Punishment

 The Book of the Prophet Jonah 1

The Calling of Jonah; His Flight and His Punishment

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:

2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that ship, and after paying his fare, went aboard to sail for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

4 Then the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god. They threw their cargo into the sea to lighten the load of the ship, but the ship was like to be broken. Jonah, however, went down into the hold of the ship and lay down, and was fast asleep.

6 And the captain of the ship came to him and said to him, “What are you doing, sleeping? Get up, call on your God! Perhaps God will take notice of us, so that we will not perish.”

7 And each one said to his companion, “Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now, on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”

9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 Then these men were filled with great fear and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the Lord, because he had told them.

11 And they said to him, “What shall we do to make the sea calm down?” For the sea was rising and growing more and more tempestuous.

12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you; for I know that this great storm has come upon you because of me.”

13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to reach land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

14 Then they cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord, we pray, let us not perish for the life of this man, and do not lay innocent blood upon us; for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.”

15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

16 Then these men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered sacrifices to the Lord, and made vows.

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.