Jonah

Jonah

Now the word of YHWH came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying:

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,

and cry out against it—

for their evil has come up before Me.”

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of YHWH.

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 YHWH.

But YHWH hurled a great wind upon the sea,

and there was a mighty storm on the sea,

so that the ship threatened to break apart.

Then the mariners were afraid,

and each cried out to his god.

They hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it.

But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship

and had lain down and was fast asleep.

So the captain came and said to him,

“What are you doing, sleeper? Arise, call on your god!

Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Then they said to one another,

“Come, let us cast lots,

that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.”

So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Then they said to him,

“Tell us on whose account this evil has come.

What is your occupation? Where do you come from?

What is your country? And of what people are you?”

He said to them,

“I am a Hebrew, and I fear YHWH,

the God of heaven,

who made the sea and the dry land.”

Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him,

“What is this you have done?”

For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of YHWH,

because he had told them.

Then they said,

“What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?”

For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

He said to them,

“Pick me up and hurl me into the sea;

then the sea will quiet down for you.

For I know it is because of me

that this great storm has come upon you.”

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land,

but they could not,

for the sea grew more and more violent against them.

Therefore they called out to YHWH,

“O YHWH, let us not perish for this man’s life,

and lay not innocent blood upon us—

for You, O YHWH, have done as it pleased You.”

So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea,

and the sea ceased from its raging.

Then the men feared YHWH exceedingly,

and they offered a sacrifice to YHWH and made vows.

And YHWH appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah,

and Jonah was in the belly of the fish

three days and three nights.

———

Then Jonah prayed to YHWH his God

from the belly of the fish, saying:

“I called to YHWH out of my distress,

and He answered me.

Out of the belly of the realm of the dead I cried,

and You heard my voice.

You cast me into the deep,

into the heart of the seas,

and the flood surrounded me;

all Your waves and billows passed over me.

Then I said, ‘I am driven away from Your sight;

yet I shall again look upon Your holy temple.’

The waters closed in over me to take my life;

the deep surrounded me;

weeds were wrapped about my head

at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land

whose bars closed upon me forever;

yet You brought up my life from the pit,

O YHWH my God.

When my life was fainting away,

I remembered YHWH,

and my prayer came to You,

into Your holy temple.

Those who cling to worthless idols

forsake their hope of covenant love.

But I with the voice of thanksgiving

will sacrifice to You;

what I have vowed I will fulfill.

Salvation belongs to YHWH!”

And YHWH spoke to the fish,

and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

———

Then the word of YHWH came to Jonah the second time, saying:

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,

and call out to it the message that I tell you.”

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh,

according to the word of YHWH.

Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city—

a three-day journey in breadth.

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey.

And he cried out:

“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overturned!”

And the people of Nineveh believed God.

They called for a fast

and put on sackcloth,

from the greatest of them to the least.

When the word reached the king of Nineveh,

he arose from his throne,

removed his robe,

covered himself with sackcloth,

and sat in ashes.

And he issued a proclamation and published it through Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Let neither human nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything.

Let them not feed or drink water,

but let every man and beast be covered with sackcloth,

and let them call out mightily to God.

Let everyone turn from his evil way

and from the violence that is in his hands.

Who knows? God may turn and relent

and turn from His burning anger,

so that we may not perish.”

When God saw what they did—

how they turned from their evil way—

God relented of the disaster

that He had said He would do to them,

and He did not do it.

———

But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he burned with anger.

He prayed to YHWH and said:

“Is this not what I said when I was still in my country?

That is why I fled to Tarshish—

for I knew that You are a gracious God and compassionate,

slow to anger and abounding in covenant love,

and relenting from disaster.

So now, O YHWH, please take my life from me,

for it is better for me to die than to live.”

And YHWH said,

“Is it right for you to be angry?”

Then Jonah went out of the city

and sat east of it.

He made a shelter for himself there,

and sat in its shade,

waiting to see what would become of the city.

Now YHWH God appointed a plant

and made it grow up over Jonah,

to give shade for his head

to save him from discomfort.

So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

But when dawn came the next day,

God appointed a worm that attacked the plant,

so that it withered.

When the sun rose,

God appointed a scorching east wind,

and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head

so that he became faint.

And he asked that he might die, and said,

“It is better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah,

“Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

And he said,

“Yes, it is right—I am angry enough to die.”

Then YHWH said,

“You have had pity on the plant,

for which you did not labor,

nor did you make it grow—

it came up in a night and perished in a night.

And should I not have pity on Nineveh,

that great city,

in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people

who do not know their right hand from their left—

and also many animals?”