2 And Yonah prayed to Yahweh his god from the belly of the fish. 3 And he said,

“I called to you Yahweh in my distress and you answered me. I cried for help from the valley of death and you heard my voice. 4 You have thrown me right into the deep—the heart of the sea; and a flood surrounds me. All your waves are crashing over me.

5 And I said, ‘I have been driven out of your sight however I will look again towards your holy temple.’

6 I was up to my neck in the waters; it was deep all around me. There were reeds wrapped around my head.

7 I went down to the foundations of the mountains; barred from returning to the land. But you saved my life from the grave, Yahweh my god.

8 When my life was draining away from me, I remembered you, Yahweh, and my prayer reached you in your holy temple.

9 Those who worship lifeless gods abandon their allegiance to you.

10 But I’ll speak out my gratitude as I sacrifice to you. I’ve vowed this and I’ll do it, because Yahweh is my rescuer.”

11 Then Yahweh spoke to the fish and it vomitted Yonah up onto the land.

3 And Yahweh spoke to Yonah a second time saying, 2 “Go now to the major city, Nineveh, and announce this declaration which I’ve told you.”

3 So Yonah went directly to Nineveh. It was a large city, taking three days to travel across. 4 [ref]Yonah went one day’s travel into the city and publicly announced, “Nineveh is going to be destroyed in forty days!”

5 The people of Nineveh believed in God and announced a time of fasting, and from the least to the most important people, they just wore sackcloth as a sign of contrition.

6 The king of Nineveh also heard about it and he got down from his throne, took off his robe and put on sackcloth, then sat in a pile of ashes. 7 And he had a statement written out and publicly read throughout Nineveh, saying, “The king and his advisors declare that people and livestock, be it herds or flocks, are prohibited from grazing or eating anything, and even from drinking water. 8 Both people and livestock should just wear sacks, and they should use their strength to cry out to God and they should turn away from the evil and violent things they have been doing. 9 And maybe God will turn and change his mind and stop his fierce anger, and maybe we won’t die.”

10 And God saw their actions in turning away from their evil ways and he changed his mind about the destruction which he had said he would send to them and he didn’t proceed with it.

4 But Yonah was very upset and the situation made him angry. 2 [ref]And he said to Yahweh, “Please Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said would happen when I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled to Tarshish the first time, because I knew that you are a caring forgiving god, who doesn’t get angry quickly; full of kindness and not wanting to cause distress. 3 [ref]So therefore Yahweh, please kill me because I’d rather die than live like this.”

4 But Yahweh said, “Do you think it’s right to be angry like that?”

5 And Yonah went outside the city to the east and made himself a shelter and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 And Yahweh God commanded a plant and it grew up over Yonah to shade his head and to relieve him from his distress. Yonah was very pleased about the plant. 7 Then at dawn the next day God commanded a grub and it attacked the plant which then shrivelled up. 8 And when the sun came up, God sent a hot east wind and the sun beat on Yonah’s head. He became faint and asked for his life to end and said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”

9 And God said to Yonah, “Do you think it’s right to be angry about the plant?”

And Yonah replied, “Yes, I’m angry enough to die!”

10 Then Yahweh said, “You felt sorry for the plant which you didn’t even plant or work for. It came up in a day and died again in a day 11 so shouldn’t I feel sorry for the huge city of Nineveh which has so many people in it who don’t know right from wrong—over 120,000 people, not to mention all the livestock!”