Book of Jonah Study
Chapter 1
1.The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2.“Go to the great city of Nineveh and
preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3.But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where
he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for
Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
4.Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship
threatened to break up. 5.All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they
threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6.The captain
went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take
notice of us so that we will not perish.”
7.Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for
this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8.So they asked him, “Tell us, who is
responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come
from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
9.He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea
and the dry land.”
10.This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away
from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
11.The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to
make the sea calm down for us?”
12.“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is
my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
13.Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even
wilder than before. 14.Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking
this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done
as you pleased.” 15.Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew
calm. 16.At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and
made vows to him. 17.Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in
the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
___________
1. Why did God bring the storm? Why did He calm it?
2. Why do you think Jonah ran from God?
3. Why do you think the other sailors fear Jonah’s God? Why do you think that
changed their perspective?
Chapter 2
1.From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2.He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3.You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4.I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5.The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6.To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
7.“When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8.“Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9.But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ”
10.And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
___________
1. What does the fish represent?
2. Which part of the prayer stood out to you the most?
3. Why did Jonah wait until being swallowed to start praying?
4. What connections can be made with Jonah being inside the fish for three days?
5. Why do you think Jonah was spit up on dry land?
Chapter 3
1.Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2.“Go to the great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3.Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city;
it took three days to go through it. 4.Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city,
proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5.The Ninevites believed God.
A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6.When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal
robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7.This is the proclamation he
issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8.But
let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them
give up their evil ways and their violence. 9.Who knows? God may yet relent and with
compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10.When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did
not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
___________
1. Why did God give Jonah a second chance after he ran from Him? When has
God given you a second chance?
2. Why did God show mercy?
3. What do you think would have happened if the king didn’t listen to Jonah? How
can you relate that to your life?
4. Why did the king issue everyone to fast and be put in sackcloth?
5. What fasting do you do?
Chapter 4
1.But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2.He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t
this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to
Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding
in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3.Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better
for me to die than to live.”
4.But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5.Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter,
sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6Then the Lord God provided
a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort,
and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7.But at dawn the next day God provided a worm,
which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8.When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east
wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It
would be better for me to die than to live.”
9.But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10.But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or
make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11.And should I not have concern for
the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people
who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
___________
1. Why was Jonah made at God’s mercy?
2. Why did God provide the plant? And the worm?
3. What does the plant and worm represent?
4. Was Jonah right to be angry?
Overall Thoughts
1. What are some main themes of this book?
2. Who is God using YOU for?
3. Who do you wish God would use you for? Are you acting towards that or
are you ignoring it like Jonah did with the plant?
4. What are some of the things you’re running from that God may be trying to
push you towards?
5. Have you ever felt stuck somewhere like Jonah was when he was in the
fish?
