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  Jonah

1 Now the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ²Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. ³But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tar-shish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tar-shish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tar-shish from the presence of Jehovah.

⁴But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was likely to be broken. ⁵Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. ⁶So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What do you mean, O sleeper? arise, call upon your God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. ⁷And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. ⁸Then they said unto him, Tell us, we pray you, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is your occupation? and from where do you come? what is your country? and of what people are you? ⁹And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land. ¹⁰Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this that you have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.

¹¹Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto you, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. ¹²And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. ¹³Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not: for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴Wherefore they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We beseech you, O Jehovah, we beseech you, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for you, O Jehovah, have done as it pleased you. ¹⁵So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows. ¹⁷And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2 Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish’s belly. ²And he said, I called by reason of my affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, And you heard my voice. ³For you did cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All your waves and your billows passed over me. ⁴And I said, I am cast out from before your eyes; Yet I will look again toward your holy temple. ⁵The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about me; The weeds were wrapped about my head. ⁶I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed upon me for ever: Yet have you brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God. ⁷When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple. ⁸They that regard lying vanities Forsake their own mercy. ⁹But I will sacrifice unto you with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.

¹⁰And Jehovah spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

3 And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time, saying, ²Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I give you. ³So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days’ journey. ⁴And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

⁵And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. ⁶And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷And he made a proclamation and published it through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; ⁸but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yes, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. ⁹Who knows whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? ¹⁰And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. ²And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray you, O Jehovah, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee unto Tar-shish; for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repented you of the evil. ³Therefore now, O Jehovah, take, I beseech you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. ⁴And Jehovah said, do you well to be angry?