Jonah Chapter 1 Now the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come
up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to
Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it
to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there
was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to
be broken. Then the mariners were afraid,
and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares
that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. But
Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay
and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him
and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call
upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us that we perish
not. And 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. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is
thine occupation, and whence comest thou? What is thy country,
and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am in
Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath
made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly
afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the
men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because
he had told them. Then said they unto him, What
shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for
the sea wrought and was tempestuous. And 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. Nevertheless, the men rode hard
to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought
and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the
Lord, and said, We beseech Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee, let
us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent
blood. For Thou, O Lord, hast done as
it pleased Thee. So they took up Jonah and cast
him forth into the sea. And the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights. Jonah chapter 2 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord
his God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of
mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly
of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hast cast
me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed
me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of
thy sight. Yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about,
even to the soul. The depth closed me round about. The weeds were wrapped about
my head. I went down to the bottoms of
the mountains. The earth with her bars was about
me forever. Yet hast thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into
thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Jonah chapter 3 And the word
of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go
unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching
that I bid thee. So Jonah arose and went unto
Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was
an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began
to enter into the city a day's journey. And he cried and said,
Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. so the people
of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from
the greatest of them even to the least of them for word came
unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and
he laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth and
sat in ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed and published
throughout 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. But let man and beast be covered
with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God. Yea, let them turn
every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is
in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn
and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish
not? And God saw their works, that
they turned from their evil way. And God repented of the evil
that he had said he would do unto them. And he did it not. Jonah chapter 4 But it displeased
Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto
the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying
when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto
Tarshish. For I knew that thou art a gracious
God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest
thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take,
I beseech thee, my life from me, for it is better for me to
die than to live." Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to
be angry? So Jonah went out of the city,
and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth,
and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would
become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd,
and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over
his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceedingly
glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when
the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it
withered. And it came to pass, when the
sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind. And the
sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted and wished in
himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than
to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest
thou well to be angry for the good? And he said, I do well
to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou hast
had pity on the good, for the which thou hast not laboured,
neither madest it grow, which came up in a night, and perished
in a night. And should not I spare Nineveh,
that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons,
that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand,
and also much cattle?