The people of Nineveh were extremely wicked and sinned against God. The Lord called Jonah and said. "Go to Nineveh, and speak out against those people." Jonah, however, hated the people of Nineveh, and wanted to disobey the Lord. So, he set out toward the opposite direction, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. 

When the ship sailed on the sea, the violent storms came. The sailors in the ship were very terrified. So they told each other to draw lots and find out who was blaming for getting them into this danger. They did so, and Jonah's name was drawn. Eventually, he said honestly to all the sailors that he was running away from the Lord. And, he said to them, too, 

"Throw me into the sea, and the storms will calm down." 

The sailors hesitated to do as he asked. But, he cannot help picking up Jonah and throwing him into the sea. The sea began to calm down, at once.



Jonah was inside a large fish. From deep inside the fish, Jonah began to seriously repent for having disobeyed the Lord, and to sing praises for God and gave thanks to him. Then the fish was upset with a stomachache, and spit him up on the beach, four days after it swallowed him. 

Thrown into the sea, Jonah lost his consciousness but woke up. Then, he expressed the gratitude to God for salvaging him. He left for Nineveh, slowly, on the heavy steps. Travelling all around cities, he thought that all he should do was to deliver the God's messages. He cried out, with the first thing he came into his head. 

"Everyone, repent for your sins against the Lord. You should ask the Lord to forgive your sins against the Lord, during your lives." If God gets angry, you will be ruined!"

Actually, he wanted that the people of Nineveh would be punished for having not repented about their sins. But, the king of Nineveh listened carefully to it, and ordered the people to repent. Then, God forgave them and left Nineveh not destroyed. 



Jonah was angry about the Lord's salvaging Nineveh. He got out east of the city, and sat down. He made a shelter for himself and sat in its shade. When there were the violent sun rays over him, he got nervous with heat. Then, God made a plant grow up over Jonah to give him some shade. Then, he was very pleased with it. But in the next day, he found the plant withering and the shade gone. As there was the heat of the sun caused by the absence of shade, Jonah complained of it to God. 

"Lord, Heat bothers me, too much. I would better be dead than alive. " 

Then, God said to him. 

"Jonah, What right do you have to be angry about the plant? Do you understand how much more, then, should I feel pity on many people of Nineveh? " 

(Jonah 1:1-4:11)