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Jeroboam won back Israel’s border from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea. This happened as the Lord, the God of Israel, had said through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.
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God Calls and Jonah Runs
The Lord spoke his word to Jonah son of Amittai:
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But Jonah got up to run away from the Lord by going to Tarshish. He went to the city of Joppa, where he found a ship that was going to the city of Tarshish. Jonah paid for the trip and went aboard, planning to go to Tarshish to run away from the Lord.
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The sailors were afraid, and each man cried to his own god. They began throwing the cargo from the ship into the sea to make the ship lighter. But Jonah had gone down far inside the ship to lie down, and he fell fast asleep.
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Then the men said to each other, “Let’s throw lots to see who caused these troubles to happen to us.” When they threw lots, the lot showed that the trouble had happened because of Jonah.
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Then Jonah said to them, “I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
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The men were very afraid, and they asked Jonah, “What terrible thing did you do?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord because he had told them.)
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Jonah said to them, “Pick me up, and throw me into the sea, and then it will calm down. I know it is my fault that this great storm has come on you.”
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Jonah’s Punishment
So the men cried to the Lord, “Lord, please don’t let us die because of this man’s life; please don’t think we are guilty of killing an innocent person. Lord, you have caused all this to happen; you wanted it this way.”
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So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea became calm.
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The Lord caused a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
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While Jonah was inside the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God and said,
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Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and the fish threw up Jonah onto the dry land.
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God Calls and Jonah Obeys
The Lord spoke his word to Jonah again and said,
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So Jonah obeyed the Lord and got up and went to Nineveh. It was a very large city; just to walk across it took a person three days.
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After Jonah had entered the city and walked for one day, he preached to the people, saying, “After forty days, Nineveh will be destroyed!”
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God’s Mercy Makes Jonah Angry
But this made Jonah very unhappy, and he became angry.
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Jonah went out and sat down east of the city. There he made a shelter for himself and sat in the shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city.
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The Lord made a plant grow quickly up over Jonah, which gave him shade and helped him to be more comfortable. Jonah was very pleased to have the plant.
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As the sun rose higher in the sky, God sent a very hot east wind to blow, and the sun became so hot on Jonah’s head that he became very weak and wished he were dead. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
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But God said to Jonah, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry about the plant?” Jonah answered, “It is right for me to be angry! I am so angry I could die!”
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Jesus answered, “Evil and sinful people are the ones who want to see a miracle for a sign. But no sign will be given to them, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
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Jonah was in the stomach of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights.
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On the Judgment Day the people from Nineveh will stand up with you people who live now, and they will show that you are guilty. When Jonah preached to them, they were sorry and changed their lives. And I tell you that someone greater than Jonah is here.
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Evil and sinful people ask for a miracle as a sign, but they will not be given any sign, except the sign of Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.
