Jonah was a great prophet of God. God told Jonah to go to the Nineveh. The people

of Nineveh were very bad. God wanted Jonah to go and tell them that he was not happy with their stealing, lying,

cheating, and killing. He told Jonah to tell the people how bad they were and that they needed to ask God for

forgiveness for their wicked ways.

Jonah did not want to go the the wicked city of Nineveh like God had asked him to. He was afraid that

the people in Nineveh would kill him if he went and told them how bad they were. Jonah told God that

he couldn't go and that he was going to run away and hide.

Jonah hurried to the seaport of Joppa. He was hoping that he would find a ship that was going

far away from Nineveh, so that he could hide from God! Jonah found a ship that was going to the city

of Tarshish. Jonah thought that would be a good place to hide from God, so he got on the ship.

BUT, Jonah could not hid from God! He should have known that God was everywhere! He was even below

the deck of the ship, where Jonah was. Jonah was tired and layed down to sleep.

While Jonah was asleep,a storm came. The wind began to blow stronger and stronger. The waves of the sea rose up

higher and higher. The sailors on the ship were very afraid that the ship was going to sink! The sailors began

throwing things overboard to make the ship lighter. One of the sailors woke Jonah up

and asked him why he wasn't praying to his God, instead of sleeping! Jonah felt ashamed. He

was trying to run away from God, and now he needed to pray to God for help.

The sailors wanted to cast lots to see if someone on the ship was causing the storm. When they

were finished they decided that Jonah was the one who was the cause of all the trouble.

Jonah explained to the sailors that he was running away from God. The sailors were very

afraid because they knew that God was causing the storm. They asked Jonah what they

should do with him to make the sea quiet again? Jonah told them to throw him out to sea, then the storm would be

quiet. The sailors did not want to throw Jonah into the sea, but they didn't know what else to do. So, they picked

Jonah up and threw him into the sea. Suddenly a great fish rose up from the water. The fish opened his mouth, swam

toward Jonah, and swallowed him with one gulp! Then, the sea became calm again.

While inside the fish's stomach, Jonah thought about what he done, running away from God. Jonah began to

pray for God to forgive him for running away. He asked God to give him another chance to go to Nineveh.

After three days and three nights, God made the fish spit Jonah out on shore. Jonah then hurried to Nineveh

and began telling the people all that God had said.

Never again would Jonah try to run away from God. He had learned his lesson! Nobody can hide from God,

not even a man like Jonah.

Click Here for Questions about the story you've just read!