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word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Arise! Go the great city of Nineveh and preach against it; for their wickedness has come before Me.”
3 But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
4 Then the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break up. 5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried to his own god. And they threw the cargo that was in the ship to lighten the load.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, where he had lain down and fallen into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up and call on your god! Perhaps this god will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”
7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots. Then we will find out who is to blame for this trouble we are in.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 So they said to him, “Tell us, who is to blame for all this trouble we are in? What is your business? Where to come from? What is your country? And from what people are you?”
9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were even more afraid, and they asked, “What is this you have done?” The men knew he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had already told them so. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you to make this sea calm down for us?” For the sea was getting rougher and rougher. 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied. “Then the sea will become calm for you; for I know that I am to blame for this great storm that has come upon you.”
13 Instead, the men rowed hard to get the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea became even wilder against them than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as You pleased.” 15 Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the raging sea became calm. 16 At this, the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 But the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the belly of the fish three days and three nights.