Jonah in the time of Jeroboam II

2 Kings 14:23–29 WEB

²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years. ²⁴He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. ²⁵He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the LORD, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher. ²⁶For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter for all, slave and free; and there was no helper for Israel. ²⁷The LORD didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. ²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁹Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

Jonah 1:1–2:10 WEB

^1:1Now the LORD’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ²“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.” ³But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. ⁴But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up. ⁵Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship and he was laying down, and was fast asleep. ⁶So the ship master came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish.” ⁷They all said to each other, “Come! Let’s cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸Then they asked him, “Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?” ⁹He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. ¹¹Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy. ¹²He said to them, “Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you.” ¹³Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. ¹⁴Therefore they cried to the LORD, and said, “We beg you, LORD, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, LORD, have done as it pleased you.” ¹⁵So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. ¹⁶Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. ¹⁷The LORD prepared a huge fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

^2:1Then Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God, out of the fish’s belly. ²He said, “I called because of my affliction to the LORD. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. ³For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me. ⁴I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ ⁵The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. ⁶I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever; yet you have brought my life up from the pit, LORD my God. ⁷“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple. ⁸Those who regard vain idols forsake their own mercy. ⁹But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the LORD.” ¹⁰Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.