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JONAH 2
15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw
him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped
at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the
Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
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.
Jonah’s Prayer
1*Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God
from inside the fish. 2 He said,
2
3
4
5
“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,
and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead,*
and Lord, you heard me!
You threw me into the ocean depths,
and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me;
I was buried beneath your wild and
stormy waves.
Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me
from your presence.
Yet I will look once more toward your
holy Temple.’
“I sank beneath the waves,
and the waters closed over me.
Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
• Adversity
JO NA H 2 :2
God listens to every prayer we offer
and responds to every one, sometimes
saying no, sometimes saying yes, and
sometimes saying wait. From the belly
of the big fish in the depths of the sea,
Jonah cried out, and God heard. No
place is too remote for God. He listens
and he cares.
• Obedience
JO NA H 3 :1 -2
Will God really give me a second chance?
God did not send the storm and the fish
to reject Jonah, but to recommission
him. God still had a job for Jonah. God
has a wonderful purpose for your life. No
matter how far you have fled from God’s
presence, no matter how much you have
sinned or suffered, God wants to fulfill his
plan for you as you yield yourself to him.
If the Lord could still use Jonah, the Lord
can still use you!
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6
7
8
9
I sank down to the very roots of the
mountains.
I was imprisoned in the earth,
whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O Lord my God,
snatched me from the jaws of death!
As my life was slipping away,
I remembered the Lord.
And my earnest prayer went out to you
in your holy Temple.
Those who worship false gods
turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs
of praise,
and I will fulfill all my vows.
For my salvation comes from the Lord
alone.”
10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah
out onto the beach.
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second
time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
3 This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command
and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took
three days to see it all.* 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty
days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The
people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and
from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast
and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah
was saying, he stepped down from his throne
and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself
in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. 7 Then the
king and his nobles sent this decree throughout
the city:
3
“No one, not even the animals from your
herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything
at all. 8 People and animals alike must wear
garments of mourning, and everyone must
pray earnestly to God. They must turn from
their evil ways and stop all their violence.
9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will
change his mind and hold back his fierce
anger from destroying us.”
10 When God saw what they had done and
how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he
changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah’s Anger at the LORD’s Mercy
This change of plans greatly upset Jonah,
and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before
I left home that you would do this, Lord? That
4
1:17 Verse 1:17 is numbered 2:1 in Hebrew text. 2:1 Verses
2:1-10 are numbered 2:2-11 in Hebrew text. 2:2 Hebrew from
Sheol. 3:3 Hebrew a great city to God, of three days’ journey.