Jonah Tries to Run Away from God

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amit′tai, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nin′eveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

⁴ But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god; and they threw the wares that were 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, call upon your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we do not perish.”

⁷ And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And whence do you come? 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 the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that 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, “Take me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” ¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴ Therefore they cried to the Lord, “We beseech thee, O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood; for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.” ¹⁵ So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

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

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

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 out Jonah upon the dry land.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But some one will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body which 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 alike, but there is one kind for men, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is 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 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, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall^[a] also bear the image of the man of heaven. ⁵⁰ I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁵¹ Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature 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 the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Conversion of Nineveh

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nin′eveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nin′eveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nin′eveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. ⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he cried, “Yet forty days, and Nin′eveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵ And the people of Nin′eveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

⁶ Then tidings reached the king of Nin′eveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he made proclamation and published through Nin′eveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, ⁸ but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. ⁹ Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?”

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.

Jonah’s Anger

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. ² And he prayed to the Lord and said, “I pray thee, Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil. ³ Therefore now, O Lord, take my life from me, I beseech thee, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴ And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” ⁵ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

Jonah Is Reproved

⁶ And the Lord God appointed a plant,^[a] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.^{[b] 7} But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm which attacked the plant,^[c] so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he was faint; and he asked that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” ⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?”^[d] And he said, “I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You pity the plant,^[e] 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 Nin′eveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

The Collection for the Saints

16 Now concerning the contribution for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. ² On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when I come. ³ And when I arrive, I will send 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 I will visit you after passing through Macedo′nia, for I intend to pass through Macedo′nia, ⁶ and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may speed me on my journey, wherever I go. ⁷ For I do not want to see you now just in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. ⁸ But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, ⁹ for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

¹⁰ When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. ¹¹ So let no one despise him. Speed him on his way in peace, that he may return to me; for I am expecting him with the brethren.

¹² As for our brother Apol′los, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brethren, but it was not at all his will^[a] to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

Final Messages and Greetings

¹³ Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. ¹⁴ Let all that you do be done in love.

¹⁵ Now, brethren, you know that the household of Steph′anas were the first converts in Acha′ia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints; ¹⁶ I urge you to be subject to such men and to every fellow worker and laborer. ¹⁷ I rejoice at the coming of Steph′anas and Fortuna′tus and Acha′icus, because they have made up for your absence; ¹⁸ for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men.

¹⁹ The churches of Asia send greetings. Aq′uila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. ²⁰ All the brethren send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

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