36 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
36 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
Jonah Runs from the LORD
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# Chapter 1
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1. The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai:
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2. "Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are."
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3. But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish.
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4. But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
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5. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
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But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.
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6. So the captain went down after him. "How can you sleep at a time like this?" he shouted. "Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives."
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7. Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.
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8. "Why has this awful storm come down on us?" they demanded. "Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?"
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9. Jonah answered, "I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
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10. The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the LORD. "Oh, why did you do it?" they groaned.
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11. And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, "What should we do to you to stop this storm?"
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12. "Throw me into the sea," Jonah said, "and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault."
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13. Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn't make it.
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14. Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah's God. "O LORD," they pleaded, "don't make us die for this man's sin. And don't hold us responsible for his death. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons."
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15. Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
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16. The sailors were awestruck by the LORD's great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
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17. Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
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