Jonah

{1:1} Now the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the son of Amittai,saying, {1:2} Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry againstit; for their wickedness is come up before me. {1:3} But Jonah rose upto flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down toJoppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof,and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presenceof Jehovah. {1:4} But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, andthere was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to bebroken. {1:5} Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man untohis god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into thesea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into theinnermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. {1:6} Sothe shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, Osleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think uponus, that we perish not. {1:7} And they said every one to his fellow,Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evilis upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. {1:8} Thensaid they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil isupon us; what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thycountry? and of what people art thou? {1:9} And he said unto them, I ama Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who hath made the seaand the dry land. {1:10} Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and saidunto him, What is this that thou hast done? For the men knew that hewas fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.{1:11} Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that thesea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.{1:12} And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into thesea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sakethis great tempest is upon you. {1:13} Nevertheless the men rowed hardto get them back to the land; but they could not: for the sea grew moreand more tempestuous against them. {1:14} Wherefore they cried untoJehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let usnot perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; forthou, O Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee. {1:15} So they took upJonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from itsraging. {1:16} Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly; and theyoffered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows. {1:17} And Jehovahprepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the bellyof the fish three days and three nights.

{2:1} Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish’sbelly. {2:2} And he said, I called by reason of mine affliction untoJehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, [And]thou heardest my voice. {2:3} For thou didst cast me into the depth, inthe heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All thy wavesand thy billows passed over me. {2:4} And I said, I am cast out frombefore thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. {2:5}The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was roundabout me; The weeds were wrapped about my head. {2:6} I went down tothe bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars [closed] upon mefor ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah myGod. {2:7} When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And myprayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple. {2:8} They that regardlying vanities Forsake their own mercy. {2:9} But I will sacrifice untothee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I havevowed. Salvation is of Jehovah. {2:10} And Jehovah spake unto the fish,and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

{3:1} And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time,saying, {3:2} Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach untoit the preaching that I bid thee. {3:3} So Jonah arose, and went untoNineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceedinggreat city, of three days’ journey. {3:4} And Jonah began to enter intothe city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, andNineveh shall be overthrown. {3:5} And the people of Nineveh believedGod; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from thegreatest of them even to the least of them. {3:6} And the tidingsreached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid hisrobe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. {3:7}And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree ofthe king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd norflock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; {3:8} butlet them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let themcry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way,and from the violence that is in his hands. {3:9} Who knoweth whetherGod will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, thatwe perish not? {3:10} And God saw their works, that they turned fromtheir evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would dounto them; and he did it not.

{4:1} But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. {4:2}And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah, was notthis my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted toflee unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, andmerciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repentestthee of the evil. {4:3} Therefore now, O Jehovah, take, I beseech thee,my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. {4:4} AndJehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry? {4:5} Then Jonah went out ofthe city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him abooth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what wouldbecome of the city. {4:6} And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made itto come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, todeliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because ofthe gourd. {4:7} But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the nextday, and it smote the gourd, that it withered. {4:8} And it came topass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and thesun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested forhimself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than tolive. {4:9} And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for thegourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. {4:10} AndJehovah said, Thou hast had regard for the gourd, for which thou hastnot labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, andperished in a night: {4:11} and should not I have regard for Nineveh,that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons thatcannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and alsomuch cattle?

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