The word of God came to Jonah, son of Amittai. He was told to go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it because its wickedness had come before God. Jonah heard the command to go to Nineveh, but he did not set out on that road.
Instead, Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of God. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it. He intended to travel with the others toward Tarshish, away from the presence of God. Nineveh lay in one direction, while Jonah went down toward the sea.
God hurled a great wind upon the sea. A violent storm arose, and the ship seemed likely to break apart. The sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. They threw the cargo into the sea to make the ship lighter.
Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship, where he lay down and fell fast asleep. The captain came to him and asked how he could be sleeping. He told Jonah to get up and call on his god, saying that perhaps this god would take notice of them so that they would not perish.
The sailors decided to cast lots to learn because of whom the disaster had come upon them. The lot fell on Jonah. They asked him to tell them who had brought this trouble on them, what his occupation was, where he came from, what country he belonged to, and from what people he came.
Jonah answered that he was a Hebrew and that he worshiped the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. He also told them that he was fleeing from God’s presence. The men became very afraid when they learned that he was running away. They asked why he had done such a thing, while the sea continued to grow more violent.
The sailors asked Jonah what they should do so that the sea would grow calm around them. Jonah told them to pick him up and throw him into the sea. He knew, he said, that the great storm had come upon them because of him. Yet the men did not throw him overboard at once. They rowed hard to bring the ship back to land.
The sea grew still more stormy against them, and they could not return to land. They cried to God, asking not to perish because of this man’s life and asking not to be held guilty of innocent blood. They said that God had done what he pleased. Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea.
When Jonah fell into the water, the raging sea ceased. The men feared God greatly. They offered a sacrifice to God and made vows. Jonah went down into the sea, and God appointed a great fish to swallow him. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.
From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to his God. He said that he had called out of his distress and God had answered him. From the belly of Sheol he had cried for help, and God had heard his voice. Jonah spoke of being cast into the deep, into the heart of the seas, with waters and waves passing over him.
Jonah said that he had been driven away from God’s sight, yet he would again look toward God’s holy temple. Water had closed over him, the deep had surrounded him, and seaweed had wrapped around his head. He had gone down to the roots of the mountains, to a place where the bars of the earth seemed to close upon him forever. Yet God brought his life up from the pit.
As Jonah’s life was fainting away, he remembered God, and his prayer came into the holy temple. He said that those who worship vain idols forsake the mercy offered to them. Jonah promised thanksgiving and declared that he would fulfill what he had vowed. Salvation belongs to God. Then God spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto dry land.