10 Then the men were seized by a great fear and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew he was fleeing from the Lord’s presenceaa because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you so that the sea will calm down for us?” For the sea was getting worse and worse.

12 He answered them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea so that it will calm down for you, for I know that I’m to blameab for this great storm that is against you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn’t because the sea was raging against them more and more.

14 So they called out to the Lord,ac “Please, Lord, don’t let us perish because of this man’s life, and don’t charge us with innocent blood! For you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.”ad 15 Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.ae 16 The men were seized by great fear of the Lord,af and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.ag

17 The Lord appointed a great fishah to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.ai

JONAH’S PRAYER

2 Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish:aj

2 I called to the Lord in my distress,ak

and he answered me.

I cried out for help from deep insideC Sheol;al

you heard my voice.am

3 When you threw me into the depths,an

into the heart of the seas,ao

and the currentD overcame me.

All your breakers and your billows swept over me.ap

4 And I said, “I have been banishedaq

from your sight,ar

yet I will look once moreE

toward your holy temple.as

5 The water engulfed me up to the neck;F,at

the watery depths overcame me;

seaweed was wrapped around my head.au

6 I sank to the foundations of the mountains,av

the earth’s gates shut behind me forever!aw

Then you raised my lifeax from the Pit, Lord my God!ay

7 As my life was fading away,a

I remembered the Lord,b

and my prayer came to you,c

to your holy temple.d

8 Those who cherish worthless idolse

abandon their faithful love,f

9 but as for me, I will sacrificeg to you

with a voice of thanksgiving.h

I will fulfilli what I have vowed.

SalvationA belongs to the Lord.j

10 Then the Lord commanded the fish,k and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

JONAH’S PREACHING

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:l 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Ninevehm and preachn the message that I tell you.” 3 Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.

Now Nineveh was an extremely great city,B,o a three-day walk. 4 Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed,p “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!” 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fastq and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

6 When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth,r and sat in ashes. 7 Then he issued a decrees in Nineveh:

By order of the king and his nobles: No person or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. 8 Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God.t Each must turn from his evil waysu and from his wrongdoing.C 9 Who knows?v God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.w

10 God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil waysx—so God relented from the disastery he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.