Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord

1 Now the word of the Lord came to ^(A)Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² “Arise, go to ^(B)Nineveh, that ^(C)great city, and call out against it, ^(D)for their evil^[a] has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah ^(E)rose to flee to ^(F)Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to ^(G)Joppa and found a ship going to ^(H)Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to ^(I)Tarshish, ^(J)away from the presence of the Lord.

⁴ But ^(K)the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened ^(L)to break up. ⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and ^(M)each cried out to his god. And ^(N)they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. ⁶ So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, ^(O)call out to your god! ^(P)Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea

⁷ And they said to one another, “Come, let us ^(Q)cast lots, 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 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 ^(R)the Lord, the God of heaven, ^(S)who made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that ^(T)he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. ¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, ^(U)for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” ¹³ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard^[b] to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴ Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and ^(V)lay not on us innocent blood, ^(W)for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” ¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, ^(X)and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, ^(Y)and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord ^(Z)and made vows.

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

^17 [c] And the Lord appointed^[d] a great fish to swallow up Jonah. ^(AA)And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah's Prayer

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ² saying,

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, ^(A)“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish person! ^(B)What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

^42 (C)So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; ^(D)it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, ^(E)“The first man Adam became a living being”;^{[a] (F)}the last Adam became a ^(G)life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ^47 (H)The first man was from the earth, ^(I)a man of dust; ^(J)the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, ^(K)so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just ^(L)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(M)we shall^[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: ^(N)flesh and blood ^(O)cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. ^(P)We shall not all sleep, ^(Q)but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For ^(R)the trumpet will sound, and ^(S)the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and ^(T)this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^(W)the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, ^(X)who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (Y)Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in ^(Z)the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord ^(AA)your labor is not in vain.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to ^(A)Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now ^(B)Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,^[a] three days' journey in breadth.^{[b] 4} Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ^5 (C)And the people of Nineveh believed God. ^(D)They called for a fast and ^(E)put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

⁶ The word reached^[c] the king of Nineveh, and ^(F)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, ^(G)and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ^(H)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor ^(I)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸ but let man and ^(J)beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. ^(K)Let everyone turn from his evil way and from ^(L)the violence that is in his hands. ^9 (M)Who knows? God may turn and relent ^(N)and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, ^(O)how they turned from their evil way, ^(P)God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,^[d] and ^(Q)he was angry. ² And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? ^(R)That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a ^(S)gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and ^(T)relenting from disaster. ^3 (U)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, ^(V)for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴ And the Lord said, ^(W)“Do you do well to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and ^(X)made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. ⁶ Now the Lord God appointed a plant^[e] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.^[f] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. ⁷ But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching ^(Y)east wind, ^(Z)and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he ^(AA)was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, ^(AB)“It is better for me to die than to live.” ⁹ But God said to Jonah, ^(AC)“Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should not I pity ^(AD)Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much ^(AE)cattle?”

The Collection for the Saints

16 Now concerning^{[a] (A)}the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. ² On ^(B)the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, ^(C)as he may prosper, ^(D)so that there will be no collecting when I come. ³ And when I arrive, I will send ^(E)those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

Plans for Travel

^5 (F)I will visit you after passing through ^(G)Macedonia, for ^(H)I intend to pass through Macedonia, ⁶ and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may ^(I)help me on my journey, wherever I go. ⁷ For I do not want to see you now ^(J)just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, ^(K)if the Lord permits. ⁸ But I will stay in Ephesus until ^(L)Pentecost, ⁹ for ^(M)a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and ^(N)there are many adversaries.

^10 (O)When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for ^(P)he is doing ^(Q)the work of the Lord, as I am. ¹¹ So ^(R)let no one despise him. ^(S)Help him on his way ^(T)in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Final Instructions

¹² Now concerning ^(U)our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will^[b] to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

^13 (V)Be watchful, ^(W)stand firm in the faith, ^(X)act like men, ^(Y)be strong. ^14 (Z)Let all that you do be done in love.

¹⁵ Now I urge you, brothers^[c]—you know that ^(AA)the household^[d] of Stephanas were ^(AB)the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves ^(AC)to the service of the saints— ^16 (AD)be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. ¹⁷ I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for ^(AE)your absence, ¹⁸ for they ^(AF)refreshed my spirit as well as yours. ^(AG)Give recognition to such people.

Greetings

¹⁹ The churches of Asia send you greetings. ^(AH)Aquila and Prisca, together with ^(AI)the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. ²⁰ All the brothers send you greetings. ^(AJ)Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹ I, Paul, write ^(AK)this greeting with my own hand. ²² If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be ^(AL)accursed. Our Lord, come!^{[e] 23 (AM)}The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. ²⁴ My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.