1The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying.2Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it because their moral evil has come up before me."3And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish and paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.4The LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship seemed about to break up.5And the sailors feared and cried out, each man to his God, and they hurled the vessels that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it from upon them. But Jonah went down to the rear of the ship, lay down, and fell asleep.6The captain drew near to him and said to him, "What are you doing sleeping? Arise, call to your God—perhaps the God will rouse himself for us, and we will not perish."7And they said each to his neighbor, "Come, let us cast lots so we may know on whose account this has happened to us." And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.8And they said to him, "Tell us please, on account of whom has this evil come to us? What is your work, and from where do you come? What is your country, and from what people are you?"9And he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land."10And the men feared a great fear, and they said to him, "What have you done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had told them.11And they said to him, "What shall we do to you so that the sea calms down on us? For the sea is growing more and more tempestuous."12And he said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea, and the sea will grow calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm is upon you."13And the men rowed hard to return to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was going and raging against them.14And they cried out to the LORD and said, "Please, LORD, please do not let us perish on account of this man's life, and do not put innocent blood on us, for you, LORD, have done as you desired."15They picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.16The men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.17And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.