Jonah and the Big Fish

God spoke to a man named Jonah. He said, "Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. The people there are doing very bad things. Go and warn them." But Jonah did not want to go. He went down to Joppa, found a ship sailing far away to Tarshish, and got on board. He was trying to run away from God.

Out at sea, God sent a great wind. The storm was so strong the ship was about to break apart. The sailors were afraid. But Jonah was down inside the ship, fast asleep. The captain woke him. "How can you sleep? Get up and pray!"

Jonah told the sailors the truth. "I am a Hebrew. I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. This storm is because of me. Throw me into the sea, and it will be calm." The sailors rowed hard for land, but they could not make it. At last they threw Jonah into the sea — and right away, the sea grew still.

But God had made ready a great fish, and the fish swallowed Jonah. Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. In the dark, Jonah prayed to God, and God heard him. Then God spoke to the fish, and it spat Jonah out onto dry land.

God spoke to Jonah a second time: "Go to Nineveh." This time Jonah went. He walked into the great city and called out, "In forty days, Nineveh will fall!" The people believed God. Everyone, from the king to the least, stopped their bad ways and cried out to God. God saw that they had turned around, and he did not destroy their city.