When a word of the Lord came to Jonas the son of Amathi, saying, "Arise and go to Ninive that great city and proclaim in it, That the cry of its wickedness is come up to me." Jonas arose to flee to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa, and finding a ship bound to Tharsis, he paid his fare and went on board with a design to sail with them to Tharsis, from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord raised a wind on the sea, and there was a great tempest in the sea, so that the ship was in danger of foundering. And the mariners were terrified, and cried every one to his god, and threw overboard some of the cargo, to lighten the vessel. Now Jonas had gone down into the ship's hold, and was asleep and snoring. And the master of the ship came to him and said to him, What! art thou snoring? Arise and call on thy God, that thy God may save us, and that we may not perish. Then they said, one to another, Come let us cast lots and know on whose account this calamity is come on us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas. Whereupon they said to him, Tell us. What is thy business? And whence comest thou? And of what country, and of what people art thou? And he said to them, I am a servant of the Lord; and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Upon this the men were greatly terrified and said to him, Why hast thou done this? (For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, for he had told them.) Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee that the sea may be calmed for us? For the sea rolled and grew more and more tempestuous. And Jonas said to them, Take me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be calm for you; for I know that on my account this great tempest is come upon you. When the men had laboured hard to reach land, but could not because the sea ran high, and grew more tempestuous against them, then they cried to the Lord and said, Forbid it, O Lord, that we perish, for the life of this man, and bring not upon us innocent blood; for thou, O Lord, hast done according to thy pleasure. Then they took Jonas and cast him into the sea. Whereupon from raging the sea became still. And the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Now the Lord had commanded a great fish to swallow Jonas, so Jonas was three days and three nights, in the belly of the fish. And when out of the belly of the great fish, Jonas prayed to the Lord his God, and said, In my affliction I cried to the Lord my God, and he hearkened to me: thou didst hear my cry from the womb of Hades: thou didst hearken to my prayer: thou hast cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea. When streams encompassed me—all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out from thy sight; nevertheless I will continue to look towards thy holy temple. The water was poured around me to my soul; and the lowest abyss encompassed me; my head hath gone down into the clefts of mountains; I have gone down to a land, the bars of which are everlastingly fixed: let my soul now, corrupted as it is, ascend, O Lord, my God. When my soul was fainting I remembered the Lord; let my prayer now come to thee into thy holy temple. They who worship vanities and lies have forsaken their mercy: But I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of praise and thanksgiving. I will pay thee what I have vowed to the Lord for my deliverance.

Upon this a command was given by the Lord to the fish, and it cast forth Jonas upon the dry ground.