Jonah

This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.

¹ Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,

² “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”

³ Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

⁴ Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.

⁵ The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

“Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

¹⁵ At this, they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.

¹⁶ Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.

¹⁷ Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

¹ From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God,

² saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.

And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

¹ Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:

² “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”

³ This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.

⁴ On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”

Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.

⁵ Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

⁶ So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

⁷ When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

⁸ As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”

²⁹ As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

³⁰ For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.

³¹ The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

³² The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.