Jonah’s Disobedience

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 cry out against it; for ^(D)their wickedness has come up before Me.” ³ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to ^(E)Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to ^(F)Tarshish ^(G)from the presence of the Lord.

The Storm at Sea

⁴ But ^(H)the Lord ^[a]sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.

⁵ Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten ^[b]the load. But Jonah had gone down ^(I)into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

⁶ So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, ^(J)call on your God; ^(K)perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.

¹² And he said to them, ^(A)“Pick me up and ^[a]throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”

¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, ^(B)but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴ Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and ^(C)do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, ^(D)have done as it pleased You.” ¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, ^(E)and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men ^(F)feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

Jonah’s Prayer and Deliverance

¹⁷ Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And ^(G)Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

¹⁰ So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah Preaches at Nineveh

3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, ^[a]a three-day journey in extent. ⁴ And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then ^(A)he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

The People of Nineveh Believe

⁵ So the ^(B)people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

^10 (A)Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Jonah’s Anger and God’s Kindness

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. ² So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I ^(A)fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a ^(B)gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. ^3 (C)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for ^(D)it is better for me to die than to live!”

⁴ Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

⁵ So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. ⁶ And the Lord God prepared a ^[a]plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah ^[b]was very grateful for the plant. ⁷ But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. ⁸ And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, ^(E)“It is better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which ^[c]came up in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not pity Nineveh, ^(F)that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons ^(G)who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”