Jonah and the Whale
Jonah
God told a prophet named Jonah, "Go to the great city of Nineveh, and tell the people there that their wickedness will be punished."
Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. He thought he could run away from God, so he got on a ship that was sailing to Tarshish. Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh because he hated the people of Nineveh and did not want to warn them of God's wrath.
But God saw what Jonah did and sent a terrible storm. The sailors and passengers threw dice to see whose fault the storm was. The dice said it was Jonah's fault.
"Who are you? And why has this storm come?" the people asked.
"I am a Hebrew. I worship the God of heaven who made the sea and the land," Jonah told them.
By now the sea was becoming so stormy that they thought the ship might sink.
Jonah told them that he was running away from the Lord.
"What are we do do?" they cried.
"Throw me into the sea," said Jonah. So they threw him off the ship into the waves of the ocean. Then the storm stopped, and the sailors saw the power of God and praised God.
The Lord called a great fish, and the fish spit him out on the beach. Then Jonah obeyed God and went to Nineveh and preached to the people. "In forty days the Lord will destroy this city because of your wickedness!' he shouted.
The people believed him. They put on ragged clothes to show how sorry they were, and they began to pray and go without food. Even the king put on ragged clothes, went without food, and said, "Let us all in this city pray to God and repent for our sins! Maybe this will change God's mind."
God did see that the people had changed and were no longer wicked, so God did not destroy their city.
Jonah was angry at God, "You made me come here and warn these people that they would be destroyed," he told God. "But I knew this would happen. You have been merciful and changed your mind about punishing the. Well, just kill me the, because I don't want to live."
God said, "Jonah, what right do you have to be angry at me?"
Then God made a plant grow up where Jonah sat outside the city. Jonah was thankful to God because the plant made shade for him. But the next morning God sent a caterpillar to ruin the plant, and the plant wilted and died. When the sun came up, it was so hot that Jonah almost fainted.
"Let me die!' Jonah shouted at God. "I would rather die than live."
"What right do you have to be angry with me, Jonah?" asked God. "You feel sorry for this plant, and you didn't even make it grow yourself. Why can't you understand that I feel sorry for my people in Nineveh?"
