Jonah and the large fish Jonah 1-3

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1 In Bible times Nineveh was

the capital of the nation of
Assyria. This great city was
large in size and population.

2 But for many years those

living in Nineveh had
become more and more
wicked.

3 The King was a powerful

man of war and his armies
were conquering first one
country then the next as the
Assyrian Empire grew.
Everyday they were getting
closer and closer to the
borderland of Israel
4 The people in Israel were
afraid of the Assyrians.
There had never been any
friendliness between the two
nations because of the
differences in the ways they
lived.

5 The people of Israel

worshipped God and their
faith was at the centre of all
they thought and believed.

6 The people of Nineveh did

not worship God but images
made out of stone.

7 Living in the land of Israel

was a prophet of God called
Jonah who delivered
messages from God to the
people.

8 One day God gave Jonah a

message he did not want to
deliver. God told Jonah to
go to the people in Nineveh
and tell them God had seen
their wickedness and was
going to destroy the city.
 9 Jonah did not want to warn
the enemies of his people
that Nineveh was going to
be destroyed. Why should
they be warned? Why didn’t
God just go ahead and
destroy Nineveh?

10 Jonah decided to ignore

God and headed in the
opposite direction from
Nineveh to the coast.

11 He boarded a boat heading

for Tarshish in Spain as far
away as he could get from
Nineveh.

12 Soon he was out at sea and

could put what he should be
doing right out of his mind.

13 But can you run away from

God? Jonah thought he
could.
14 He went down into the ship
and was soon fast asleep.

15 While Jonah slept God

caused a storm the likes of
which the sailors had never
seen before.

They fell to their knees and

16 cried out to their gods to
spare their lives.

17 But the wind blew harder

and stronger.

18 The captain knew that their

boat would not last through
a storm like this. So he
woke Jonah and told him to
call on his God to save
them.
19 But how could Jonah call on
God when he was running
away from him?

20 In desperation the crew of

the ship drew lots to find out
who was responsible for the
trouble they were in.

21 And it just so happened that

Jonah was shown to be the
guilty one. The sailors
demanded to know who he
was and what he had done
to upset God.

22 Jonah confessed to them

what he had done and
begged them to throw him
overboard before they were
all lost.

23 The sailors took hold of

Jonah and threw his
overboard. Immediately the
storm stopped.
24 As Jonah floundered in the
sea God sent a great fish
that he had prepared.

25 The great fish completely

swallowed Jonah

26 Jonah was in the belly of the

great fish for three days and
nights. He prayed to God
asking for forgiveness.

27 Then the Lord spoke to the

fish and it vomited Jonah
out onto dry land.

28 God repeated His instruction

for Jonah to go to the city of
Nineveh. This time Jonah
obeyed.
29 Jonah went boldly into the
city and cried out, ‘In 40
days Nineveh will be
destroyed.’

30 He walked throughout
Nineveh warning of God’s
judgment on the city. The
people listened and believed
what Jonah told them. They
proclaimed a fast to repent
of their wickedness.

31 When the King heard about

Jonah’s message he
became aware of the ways
he had disobeyed God.

32 The King was so sorry for

his wickedness he took off
his rich royal garments.

33 Then he put on sackcloth

and sat in ashes pleading
with God to show mercy.
34 All over the city people
followed the example of the
king and pleaded with God
to forgive them. God heard
their prayers and because
he is a God of mercy he
spared them and did not
destroy Nineveh.
The Lord is good; His mercy
is Everlasting. Psalm 100:5a
(1 John 1:8-9).

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