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Jonah’s Disobedience
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
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But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord.
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Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried out to his god, and they hurled the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the stern of the ship, had lain down, and fallen sound asleep.
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And each man said to his mate, “Come, let’s cast lots so that we may find out on whose account this catastrophe has struck us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
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So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
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And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.
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Jonah’s Prayer
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish,
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Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
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Nineveh Repents
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
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So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk.
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Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Forty more days, and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
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Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked
But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry.
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Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade, until he could see what would happen in the city.
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So the Lord God designated a plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to relieve him of his discomfort. And Jonah was overjoyed about the plant.
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And when the sun came up God designated a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint, and he begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life!”
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But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!”
