Listen for free to MP3 audio of The Book of Jonah KJV

The story of Jonah is one of the most well-known Bible stories of all. Jonah is a narrative about God’s compassion for some hated Gentiles by way of a Hebrew prophet who wanted nothing to do with them. The reluctant prophet, Jonah, is commanded to go and preach to the Ninevites, Israel's sworn enemies, so that destruction might not fall upon them. Jonah would love nothing more than to see Nineveh destroyed, but he knows that God is compassionate and will forgive them if they repent, therefore he boards a ship heading the other direction away from Nineveh.

God's wrath follows the ship, until Jonah is thrown overboard by the other sailors and swallowed by a giant fish. While in the belly of the fish, he repents of his own disobedience and is delivered back onto shore, at which point he preaches against Nineveh's sin and commands them to repent. They do, in wholehearted fashion, and God relents from destroying them. The book ends with Jonah waiting in vain for Nineveh to be destroyed, bitter that God would show such kindness to a people who are at war with His own.