Jonah and the Great Fish — Bible audio story cover art

Jonah and the Great Fish

Jonah 1:1–4:11

God said go east. The prophet booked a ship heading west.

God tells Jonah to preach repentance to Nineveh — the capital of Assyria, Israel's cruelest enemy. Jonah runs the other direction, boarding a ship to Tarshish. A violent storm threatens to sink the boat. The pagan sailors pray to their gods while Jonah sleeps below deck. When lots reveal Jonah as the cause, he tells them to throw him overboard. They do. The sea calms. God sends a great fish that swallows Jonah whole. Three days in darkness, in the belly of the fish, Jonah prays. The fish vomits him onto dry land. This time, Jonah goes to Nineveh. The city repents. And Jonah is furious — because God's mercy was exactly what he feared.