The Call Jonah Ran From
A prophet flees the Father’s call to preach to Israel’s enemies, is swallowed by a great fish, and learns—reluctantly—that our Father’s compassion is far wider than his own.
1 1Now the word of our Father came to Jonah son of Amittai:
2"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their evil has risen before me."
3But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish, away from our Father's presence. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, paid its fare, and boarded to go with them to Tarshish, away from our Father's presence.
4Then our Father hurled a great wind at the sea; a violent storm arose, and the ship seemed about to break apart. 5The sailors were terrified, each crying to his own god. They threw the ship's cargo into the sea to lighten it. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay fast asleep. 6The captain came and said, "How can you sleep? Get up, call on your god! Maybe he will notice us, and we won't perish."
7The men said to each other, "Come, let's cast lots to find who's to blame for this disaster on us." They cast lots, and it fell on Jonah. 8They said to him, "Tell us — you who have brought this disaster on us — what do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? What people are you from?"
9He answered, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear our Father, the Father of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
10Then the men were terrified and said, "What have you done?" For they knew he was fleeing from our Father's presence, because he had told them.
11Then they said to him, "What should we do to you to calm the sea for us?" — for the sea grew stormier and stormier.
12He told them, "Lift me up and throw me into the sea, and it will calm for you. I know this great storm came on you because of me."
13Instead the men rowed hard to reach land, but could not, for the sea grew wilder and wilder against them. 14So they cried out to our Father: "Please, God, don't let us die for taking this man's life. Don't hold us guilty of innocent blood, for you have done as you pleased." 15Then they picked Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm. 16The men then feared our Father greatly, offered a sacrifice to our Father, and made vows.
