1The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:H1697H3068H3124H1121H573H5592“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”H6965H3212H5210H1419H5892H7121H7451H5927H64403But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.H3124H6965H1272H8659H6440H3068H3381H3305H4672H591H935H8659H5414H7939H3381H935H8659H6440H30684But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.H3068H2904H1419H7307H3220H1419H5591H3220H591H2803H76655Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.H4419H3372H2199H376H430H2904H3627H591H3220H7043H3124H3381H3411H5600H7901H72906So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”H7227H2259H7126H559H7290H6965H7121H430H430H6245H67Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.H559H376H7453H3212H5307H1486H3045H7945H7451H5307H1486H1486H5307H31248“Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”H559H5046H7451H4399H370H935H776H59719Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”H559H5680H3373H3068H430H8064H6213H3220H300410The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned.H582H1419H3374H3372H559H6213H582H3045H1272H6440H3068H504611And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”H559H6213H3220H8367H3220H1980H559012“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”H559H5375H2904H3220H3220H8367H3045H7945H1419H559113Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.H582H2864H7725H3004H3201H3220H1980H559014Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”H7121H3068H559H577H3068H6H376H5315H5414H5355H1818H3068H6213H265415Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!H5375H3124H2904H3220H3220H5975H219716The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.H582H3372H3068H1419H3374H2076H2077H3068H5087H508817Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.H3068H4487H1419H1709H1104H3124H3124H4578H1709H7969H3117H7969H3915
Jonah 2
Jonah’s Prayer
2Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.H3124H6419H3068H430H1710H45782He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!H559H7121H6869H3068H6030H990H7585H7768H8085H69633You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.H7993H4688H3824H3220H5104H5437H4867H1530H56744Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’H559H1644H5869H5027H3254H6944H19645“I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.H4325H661H5315H8415H5437H5488H2280H72186I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!H3381H7095H2022H776H1280H5769H5927H2416H7845H3068H4307As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.H5315H5848H2142H3068H8605H935H6944H19648Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.H8104H7723H1892H5800H26179But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”H2076H6963H8426H7999H5087H3444H306810Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.H3068H559H1709H6958H3124H3004
Jonah 3
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
3Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time:H1697H3068H3124H8145H5592“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”H6965H3212H5210H1419H5892H7121H7150H16963This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.H3124H6965H3212H5210H1697H3068H5210H430H1419H5892H7969H3117H41094On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”H3124H2490H935H5892H259H3117H4109H7121H559H705H3117H5210H20155The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.H582H5210H539H430H7121H6685H3847H8242H1419H69966When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.H1697H5060H4428H5210H6965H3678H5674H155H3680H8242H3427H6657Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city. “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.H2199H559H5210H2940H4428H1419H559H120H929H1241H6629H2938H3972H7462H8354H43258People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.H120H929H3680H8242H7121H2394H430H7725H376H7451H1870H2555H37099Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”H3045H430H7725H5162H7725H2740H639H610When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.H430H7200H4639H7725H7451H1870H430H5162H7451H1696H6213H6213
Jonah 4
Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Mercy
4This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.H3415H3124H1419H7451H27342So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.H6419H3068H559H577H3068H1697H127H1272H6923H8659H3045H2587H410H7349H750H639H7227H2617H5162H74513Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”H3068H3947H5315H2896H4194H24164The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”H559H3068H3190H27345Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.H3124H3318H5892H3427H6924H5892H6213H5521H3427H6738H7200H58926And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.H3068H430H4487H7021H5927H3124H6738H7218H5337H7451H3124H1419H8057H8055H70217But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.H430H4487H8438H7837H5927H4283H5221H7021H30018And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.H8121H2224H430H4487H2759H6921H7307H8121H5221H7218H3124H5968H7592H5315H4191H559H2896H4194H24169Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”H430H559H3124H3190H2734H7021H559H3190H2734H419410Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.H559H3068H2347H7021H5998H1431H1121H3915H6H1121H391511But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”H2347H5210H1419H5892H3426H7235H8147H6240H7239H120H3045H3225H8040H7227H929
Psalms 129
129[A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.] From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this.H7892H4609H7227H6887H5271H3478H5592From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me.H7227H6887H5271H32013My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.H2790H2790H1354H748H4618H46184But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.H3068H6662H7112H5688H75635May all who hate Jerusalem be turned back in shameful defeat.H954H5472H268H8130H67266May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop, turning yellow when only half grown,H2682H1406H3001H6927H80257ignored by the harvester, despised by the binder.H7114H4390H3709H6014H26838And may those who pass by refuse to give them this blessing. “The Lord bless you; we bless you in the Lord’s name.”H5674H559H1293H3068H1288H8034H3068
Dublin, OH
Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.H3068
