Jonah

JPS TaNaKH 1917

Jonah has 4 chapters. Read Jonah in the JPS TaNaKH 1917, chapter by chapter, free and without an account.

Jonah tells of a prophet who flees a command to speak against Nineveh. A storm, a great fish, and a prayer lead into a renewed commission. Nineveh responds to his warning by turning from evil, and God spares the city. Jonah becomes angry at this mercy, and the book closes with God questioning his concern for a plant beside his lack of concern for Nineveh.

Read the Jonah summary and outline →

In Christian Bibles, Jonah is one of the twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. In the Jewish Tanakh it belongs to the Nevi’im, the Prophets, as part of the Twelve. See it on the shelf.

Jonah stands solemnly at the rail of a storm-tossed merchant ship as sailors discard cargo and a great fish approaches beneath the waves

Jonah 1

Jonah 1: fleeing his call, Jonah endangers a ship, confesses during the storm, and is preserved when a great fish swallows him.

Jonah kneels in prayer inside the shadowed great fish as seaweed and deep water surround him and warm light descends from above

Jonah 2

Jonah 2: from the depths inside the great fish, Jonah prays, remembers mercy, gives thanks, and declares that salvation belongs to God.

Jonah addresses Nineveh as its ruler, families, servants, and covered livestock gather throughout the city in fasting and humility

Jonah 3

Jonah 3: Nineveh believes Jonah's warning, fasts, turns from violence, and receives mercy when God sees the city's repentance.

Jonah sits angrily beneath a withered shade plant as hot wind crosses the hillside and the crowded city of Nineveh rests below

Jonah 4

Jonah 4: Jonah's anger over Nineveh's mercy is challenged through a shade plant and God's compassion for the city's people and animals.