Jonah

One day Jonah hears God. He says, “Go to Nineveh and tell them that they are doing bad things. They must stop. I don’t like it.”

But Jonah doesn’t go to Nineveh. He wants to go away, so he goes to a harbour and buys a place on a boat. That boat goes to Tarshish.

But God sends a storm. The storm is very strong, and the people on the ship are afraid. But Jonah sleeps.

“Jonah, wake up. Pray to your God. Maybe he will stop the storm,” the sailors tell him.

Jonah looks around. “I cannot ask my God,” he says.

“Why not?”

“My God is angry with me, because I don’t do what he tells me.”

The storm gets worse and worse.

“How do we stop the storm?” the people ask Jonah.

“Throw me into the sea, and the storm will stop,” Jonah says.

But the men do not want to throw Jonah into the sea. They work on the ship and want to go back to land. But they cannot do it. The storm gets even stronger.

“We cannot get to the land. Do you really think that the storm will stop when we throw you in the sea? We don’t want to kill you.”

“If you throw me there, the storm will stop.”

So they take Jonah and throw him into the sea. Suddenly, there is a big fish, and it eats Jonah. And the storm stops.

Jonah is in the belly of the fish, and he prays.

“I am in a terrible situation, so I call to the Lord, and he listens to me. There is a terrible storm, and I am deep down in the ocean. I am in a big fish, and everything is dark. But the Lord will bring me up. He will save me. The Lord is the only one who can help me.”

He is in the fish for three days and three nights, and then the Lord tells the fish to throw Jonah onto the land.

And the Lord speaks to Jonah again, “Go to Nineveh and say what I tell you.”

So Jonah goes to Nineveh. It is a big city. He goes through it for three days, and he says, “Stop doing bad things, or God will destroy Nineveh.”

And the people in Nineveh believe God and start doing good things. Even the king starts praying.

And when God sees that the people in Nineveh are good again, he doesn’t destroy it.

But Jonah is angry now. “My Lord, why don’t you destroy the city? Now I look stupid.”

But God says, “You should not be angry.”

But Jonah is still angry. He goes out of the city and sits down. A small bush grows above Jonah and gives him shade and keeps him cool.

But the next day, the bush dies, and Jonah is sad about it. And God tells him,

“You are sad because of the bush that dies. And should I not be sad about the 120,000 people that would die? I love them.”

Comprehension Questions

In the first task, put the pictures into the correct order.

Second, decide if the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE:

1. Jonah does what God tells him.
2. Jonah goes to Nineveh immediately.
3. The boat will take Jonah to Nineveh.
4. The storm stops when Jonah is not on the boat.
5. A big fish eats Jonah.
6. Jonah dies.
7. Jonah prays in the fish.
8. God saves Jonah.
9. Jonah goes to Nineveh then.
10. People in Nineveh don’t listen to Jonah.
11. God destroys Nineveh.
12. Jonah is happy about Nineveh.
13. God loves people.

Solution

The correct order of the pictures is:

BCDA

The correct answers to the TRUE FALSE statements are:
1. FALSE 2. FALSE 3. FALSE 4. TRUE 5. TRUE 6. FALSE 7. TRUE 8. TRUE 9. TRUE 10. FALSE 11. FALSE 12. FALSE 13. TRUE

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Video

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