1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their
wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord,
Psalm 139 ...
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee;
but the night shineth as the day:
the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
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Jonah 1
and went down to Joppa; and he
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 presence of the
Lord.
(Jonah's intent was to run away from God ... HOW?)
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5
Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and
cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it
of them.
But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay,
and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto
him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be
that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
7 And they said every
one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for
whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell
upon Jonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose
cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest
thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
9 And he said
unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which
hath made the sea and the dry land.
10 Then were the men exceedingly
afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew
that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may
be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 And he
said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the
sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is
upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land;
but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against
them.
14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O
Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay
not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased
thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the
sea ceased from her raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah
was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.