You threw me ¹  into the deep waters, ²  into the middle ³  of the sea; ⁴  the ocean current ⁵  engulfed ⁶  me; all the mighty waves ⁷  you sent ⁸  swept ⁹  over me.

So they cried out to the Lord, “Oh, please, Lord, don’t let us die on account of this man! Don’t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. ¹  After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.” ² 

Those who worship ¹  worthless idols ²  forfeit the mercy that could be theirs. ³ 

Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly ¹  to God, and everyone ²  must turn from their ³  evil way of living ⁴  and from the violence that they do. ⁵ 

When my life ¹  was ebbing away, ²  I called out to ³  the Lord, and my prayer came to your holy temple. ⁴ 

When Jonah began to enter the city one day’s walk, he announced, “At the end of forty days, ¹  Nineveh will be overthrown!” ² 

The sailors were so afraid that each cried out ¹  to his own god ²  and they flung ³  the ship’s cargo ⁴  overboard ⁵  to make the ship lighter. ⁶  Jonah, meanwhile, ⁷  had gone down ⁸  into the hold ⁹  below deck, had lain down, and was sound asleep.

Because the storm was growing worse and worse, ¹  they said to him, “What should we do to you to make ²  the sea calm down ³  for us?”

But as for me, I promise to offer a sacrifice to you with a public declaration ¹  of praise; ²  I will surely do ³  what I have promised. ⁴  Salvation ⁵  belongs to the Lord!” ⁶ 

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city ¹  – it required three days to walk through it!) ² 

The people ¹  of Nineveh believed in God, ²  and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ³ 

When the news ¹  reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.

They said to him, “Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? ¹  What’s your occupation? Where do you come from? What’s your country? And who are your people?” ² 

He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, ¹  because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.”

He issued a proclamation and said, ¹  “In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water.

Should I ¹  not be even more ²  concerned ³  about Nineveh, this enormous city? ⁴  There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, ⁵  as well as many animals!” ⁶ 

When the sun began to shine, God sent ¹  a hot ²  east wind. So the sun beat down ³  on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, ⁴  and said, “I would rather die than live!” ⁵