Jonah and the Whale

In a faraway city called Nineveh, the king and his people were doing bad things. God was not happy.
God told a man named Jonah to travel to Nineveh. “Give the people there a message,” God said. “Tell them that they must learn to be good or I will destroy their city.”




Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. He thought the people there should be punished if they were bad.


Jonah thought that the people of Nineveh should be punished if they were doing bad things.
He forgot about them and fell into a deep sleep on the ship.


As the ship sailed across the
ocean, God whipped up a mighty storm! Fierce gusts of wind rocked the ship. Huge waves crashed onto the deck.
The sailors were terrified. It was the worst storm they’d ever seen. As for Jonah, he kept right on sleeping.




The sailors rushed to Jonah and shook him awake. “How can you sleep through this awful storm? What if the ship sinks?” they said.


Jonah knew that he had disobeyed God, and the storm was his punishment. He had to save the ship and everyone on board!
“The storm will stop if you throw me overboard,” Jonah told
the sailors.




The storm grew even worse. The wind and the waves nearly blew the ship right over! The sailors didn’t want to throw Jonah overboard, but he told them that it was the only way to stop the storm.
“Please forgive us, God,” they cried, as they hurled Jonah into the ocean.


Immediately, the storm died down and the water became calm. The ship sailed on.
Poor Jonah started to sink to the bottom of the ocean. He didn’t know how to swim!


“This is my punishment from God,” he thought as he sank lower and lower.
Then suddenly . . .




an enormous whale came along and Jonah was sucked into its huge open mouth.
The whale swallowed Jonah in one mighty gulp!




Jonah ended up inside the whale. “I haven’t drowned!” he said in surprise. He knelt down and prayed. “Thank you for saving me, God. Please forgive me for disobeying you.”


For three days and three nights, Jonah was trapped inside the whale. He began to think that he would live there for the rest of his life.
Jonah promised God that if he was given another chance, he would do the right thing and go to Nineveh.
Then, all of a sudden . . .


the great whale swam to the shore and spat Jonah out!


Jonah knelt on the beach and breathed in the fresh air. How glad he was to be alive!
“I’ll give you another chance, Jonah,” said God. “Please tell the people of Nineveh that they must learn to be good or I will destroy their city.”




This time, Jonah obeyed God and made the long journey to Nineveh.






Jonah told the king and all the people that they must learn to be good or God would destroy Nineveh.
Were they listening? Jonah wasn’t sure.


Hurray! The people of Nineveh did listen to Jonah. They asked forgiveness from God and promised to lead better lives.
care for each other . . .
They began to share . . .
and help one another.


Even the king shared his riches and worked hard to make the people of Nineveh happy.
God was delighted and forgave them all.


“Why did you forgive the people of Nineveh instead of punishing them?” Jonah asked God.
“They’ve learned to be good now,” answered God. “They needed another chance, just like you did.”


Now Jonah understood the meaning of forgiveness.