At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel. But Jonah had gone down into the vessel's hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

Meanwhile, each crewman told another, "Come on! Let's cast lots to find out whose fault it is that we're in this trouble." So they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah!

So they interrogated him: "Tell us, why has this trouble come upon us? What's your occupation? Where'd you come from? What's your home country? What's your nationality?"

Because the sea was growing more and more stormy, they asked him, "What do we have to do to you so the sea will calm down for us?"

Even so, the crewmen rowed hard to bring the ship toward dry land, but they were unsuccessful, because the sea was growing more and more stormy.

At last they cried out to the LORD, "Please, LORD, do not let us perish because of this man's life, and do not hold us responsible for innocent blood, because you, LORD, have done what pleased you."

So they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging.

The people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least important.

God took note of what they did that they turned from their evil ways. Because God relented concerning the trouble about which he had warned them, he did not carry it out.