About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand. In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form.
Timeline of the Bible |
The Book of Jonah
This is a very short book of only 4 chapters. It is the story of God's
prophet, Jonah, and tells how he refused to obey God's command. God tells Jonah
to go to the big city of Nineveh and deliver His message. Jonah refuses and then
is swallowed by a large fish. After he gets out of the fish, he decides to do
what God told him to do.
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The city of Ninevah |
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Ninevah was a very large and famous city. It was located in the country that we now call Iraq. It was by the Tigris River. It was home to the Assyrian people. |
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Photos and maps from LookLex Encyclopedia |
For a short time, Ninevah
was the capital city of Assyria. During that time, it was a
beautiful city with parks, gardens, and wide streets. It had a
wall around it, and it had 15 gates in the walls. The people in Ninevah did not worship God. They worshiped false gods. They named their 15 city gates for some of their false gods. |
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Picture from The Bible
in Pictures,
(The New Bible Symbols, by M. Bihn & J. Bealings) From creationism.org |
Jonah was in the fish's stomach. He
prayed to God. He said that he cried to God, and God heard him in the fish's
stomach.
[1] Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the
fish's belly,
[2] And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he
heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Jonah said that God had him thrown into the deep
sea. The water was all around him. The waves were over him.
[3] For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the
floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
Jonah said that he was out of God's sight, but he
will look again toward the temple in Jerusalem.
[4] Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple.
Jonah said that the water was all around him even to his soul. The water
closed in on him, and seaweeds wrapped around his head.
[5] The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me
round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
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Picture from The Bible in Pictures,
(The New Bible Symbols, by M. Bihn & J. Bealings) From creationism.org |
People who worship false gods do not get mercy.
Jonah promises that he will make sacrifices and be thankful to God. God will
save him.
[8] They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
[9] But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will
pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
God spoke to the fish, and the fish vomited Jonah
out on dry land.
[10] And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry
land.
God talked to Jonah a second time.
God told him to get up and go to the big city named Nineveh. He wanted
Jonah to give the people in Nineveh a message.
[1] And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second
time, saying,
[2] Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the
preaching that I bid thee.
Jonah obeyed God. He got up and went to Nineveh. It
took him 3 days to walk to the city.
[3] So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the
LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
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Jonah
preaching in Nineveh |
Jonah arrived at the city and walked in the city
for a day. Then he shouted out to the people. He told them that in 40 days,
Nineveh will be defeated.
[4] And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried,
and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
The people in Nineveh believed God. They fasted and
put on rough clothes. Everyone did this from the most important people to
the least important people.
[5] So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
The king heard about this. He got up from his
throne and took off his robe. He put on rough clothes and sat in ashes.
[6] For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne,
and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in
ashes.
The king gave an order for everyone in Nineveh.
He ordered that no people or animals should eat or drink water.
[7] And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the
decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd
nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
The people and animals should all wear rough cloth. They should pray to God.
They should all stop sinning and being violent.
[8] But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto
God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence
that is in their hands.
The king said he hopes that God will not be angry
with them. He hopes that they will not die.
[9] Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce
anger, that we perish not?
God saw that the people in Nineveh were obeying
Him. God did not destroy them.
[10] And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God
repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he
did it not.
Jonah was mad that God did not
destroy Nineveh.
[1] But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very
angry.
Jonah prayed to God. He said that he knew in the beginning that God
would not destroy Nineveh. He said that was why he ran away to Tarshish.
He said that God is good, merciful, kind, and does not get mad fast.
[2] And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this
my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto
Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to
anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Jonah asked God to take his life. He wanted to
die. He said it was better for him to die than to live.
[3] Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is
better for me to die than to live.
God asked Jonah if it was good for him to be
angry.
[4] Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
Jonah left Nineveh and sat to
the east of the city. He made a little tent and sat in the shadow
of the tent. He wanted to watch and see what would happen to Nineveh.
[5] So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and
there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see
what would become of the city.
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Jonah
under the vine |
God made a gourd (plant) grow
over Jonah's head. The gourd made shade for Jonah and made him happy.
[6] And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah,
that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So
Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
God sent a worm the next
morning. The worm killed the gourd, and it died and withered.
[7] But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote
the gourd that it withered.
When the sun came up, God sent a very strong wind from the east. The sun
was hot on Jonah's head. Jonah fainted and wanted to die. He said it was
better for him to die than to live.
[8] And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a
vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die
than to live.
God asked Jonah if it was good
for him to be mad about the gourd. Jonah said he was angry, even
to death.
[9] And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he
said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
God said that Jonah felt pity
for the gourd. Jonah did not work to make the gourd grow. The gourd came up
in the night and then died in a night. If he felt sorry for something
small like the gourd,
then God can show mercy to Nineveh. The gourd was small and did not live
long, but there were 120,000 people in Nineveh. The people in Nineveh
could not tell the difference between their right hand and their left hand.
Nineveh also had many cattle.
[10] Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou
hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and
perished in a night:
[11] And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than
sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and
their left hand; and also much cattle?