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Jeroboam won back Israel’s border from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea. This happened as the Lord of Israel had said. He said it through his servant Jonah son of Amittai. He was 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. He went to the city of Joppa. There he found a ship that was going to the city of Tarshish. Jonah paid for the trip and went aboard. He wanted to go to Tarshish to run away from the Lord.
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The sailors were afraid. Each man cried to his own god. The men began throwing the cargo into the sea. This would make the ship lighter so it would not sink. But Jonah had gone down into the ship to lie down. 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.” So the men threw lots. The lot showed that the trouble had happened because of Jonah.
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Then the men said to Jonah, “Tell us what you have done. Why has this terrible thing happened to us? What is your job? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?”
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Then Jonah said to them, “I am a Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven. He is the God who made the sea and the land.”
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Then the men were very afraid. They asked Jonah, “What terrible thing did you do?” They knew Jonah was running away from the Lord because Jonah had told them.
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The wind and the waves of the sea were becoming much stronger. So the men said to Jonah, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down?”
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Jonah said to them, “Pick me up, and throw me into the sea. 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 taking this man’s life. Please don’t think we are guilty of killing an innocent man. Lord, you have caused all this to happen. You wanted it this way.”
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Then the men picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea. So the sea became calm.
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And the Lord caused a very big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
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While Jonah was in the stomach of the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God. Jonah said,
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Then the Lord spoke to the fish. And the fish spit Jonah out of its stomach onto the dry land.
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God Calls and Jonah Obeys
Then the Lord spoke his word to Jonah again. The Lord said,
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So Jonah obeyed the Lord. He got up and went to Nineveh. It was a very large city. It took a person three days just to walk across it.
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Jonah entered the city. When he had walked for one day, he preached to the people. He said, “After 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed!”
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God’s Mercy Makes Jonah Angry
But Jonah was very unhappy that God did not destroy the city. He was angry.
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Jonah went out and sat down east of the city. There he made a shelter for himself. And he sat there in the shade. He was waiting to see what would happen to the city.
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The Lord made a plant grow quickly up over Jonah. This made a cool place for him to sit. And it helped him to be more comfortable. Jonah was very pleased to have the plant for shade.
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When the sun was high in the sky, God sent a hot east wind to blow. The sun became very hot on Jonah’s head. And he became very weak. He wished he were dead. Jonah said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
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But God said this to Jonah: “Do you think it is right for you to be angry because of the plant?” Jonah answered, “It is right for me to be angry! I will stay angry until I 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. The only sign will be what happened to 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.
