Now this message from the LORD came to Amittai's son Jonah:

And Jonah riseth to flee to Tarshish from the face of Jehovah, and goeth down to Joppa, and findeth a ship going to Tarshish, and he giveth its fare, and goeth down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the face of Jehovah.

And the seamen will fear, and they will cry each to his God, and they cast down the vessels which were in the ship into the sea to lighten from them. And Jonah went down to the sides of the ship, and he will lie down and snore.

Then they said to him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And from where do thou come? What is thy country, and of what people are thou?

And the men fear a great fear, and say unto him, 'What is this thou hast done!' for the men have known that from the face of Jehovah he is fleeing, for he hath told them.

And they say unto him, 'What do we do to thee that the sea may cease from us, for the sea is more and more tempestuous?'

And he saith unto them, 'Lift me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea doth cease from you; for I know that on my account this great tempest is upon you.'

And they lift up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceaseth from its raging;

And Jonah prayeth unto Jehovah his God from the bowels of the fish.

And he saith: I called, because of my distress, to Jehovah, And He doth answer me, From the belly of sheol I have cried, Thou hast heard my voice.

And I -- I said: I have been cast out from before Thine eyes, (Yet I add to look unto Thy holy temple!)

To the cuttings of mountains I have come down, The earth, her bars are behind me to the age. And Thou bringest up from the pit my life, O Jehovah my God.

When my life was ebbing away from me, I remembered Yahweh, and my prayer came to you, {to your holy temple}.

but as for me, I will sacrifice to You
with a voice of thanksgiving.
I will fulfill what I have vowed.
Salvation is from the Lord!

This message from the LORD came to Jonah a second time:

So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh as the Lord had said. Now Nineveh was a very great town, three days' journey from end to end.

And the men of Nineveh believe in God, and proclaim a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even unto their least,

seeing the word doth come unto the king of Nineveh, and he riseth from his throne, and removeth his honourable robe from off him, and spreadeth out sackcloth, and sitteth on the ashes,

And he will cry out and say in Nineveh from the edict of the king and of his great ones, saying, The man and beast, the herd and flock shall not taste of anything; they shall not feed and they shall not drink water.

and cover themselves with sackcloth let man and beast, and let them call unto God mightily, and let them turn back each from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

Who knoweth? He doth turn back, and God hath repented, and hath turned back from the heat of His anger, and we do not perish.'

And God seeth their works, that they have turned back from their evil way, and God repenteth of the evil that He spake of doing to them, and he hath not done it.

And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray you, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and you relent from the destruction.

And now, O Jehovah, take, I pray Thee, my soul from me, for better is my death than my life.'

And Jonah goeth forth from the city, and sitteth on the east of the city, and maketh to himself there a booth, and sitteth under it in the shade, till that he seeth what is in the city.

And Jehovah God appointeth a gourd, and causeth it to come up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head, to give deliverance to him from his affliction, and Jonah rejoiceth because of the gourd with great joy.

And should not I have compassion on Nineveh that great city, wherein there is a multitude of people, even above a hundred thousand that know not their righthand from the left, besides much cattle?"