Spier - The Book of Jonah

Copyright 1985 by Peter Spier
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books,
a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
Originally published by Doubleday, New York, in 1985.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-385-37909-0 (trade) ISBN 978-0-375-97337-6 (lib. bdg.) ISBN 978-0-375-98238-5 (ebook)
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O ne day, as Jonah the prophet was going about his everyday work, the Lord God spoke to him. Jonah, I want you to go to the great city of Nineveh with a message from me. I have seen their evil ways. If they do not change, I must punish them.

Without delay, Jonah packed his things, said goodbye to his family, and set out for the coast.

But he did not go to Nineveh. Instead he found a ship bound for Spain, paid his fare, and went on board.

Jonah was running away from God.

A few days out to sea, God sent a fierce storm after Jonah. The ship was in danger of breaking up and the sailors were terrified.

There was a babble of voices as each man prayed to his own god for help. They threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship, but still the storm raged.

Jonah, the only passenger, was asleep in the hold.

The desperate captain found him there. Wake up and pray to your god, he cried. Maybe he can save us!

The winds were so strong and the waves so high that the sailors realized this was no ordinary storm.

Someone must be to blame, they agreed. They threw dice to decide who it was. The dice pointed to Jonah.

The sailors turned on him. Who are you? they shouted. Why have you brought this upon us?

I am a Hebrew, replied Jonah. I worship the Lord, the God of Heaven, who made land and sea. He has given me a job to do that is too hard for me. I am running away from him.

The sailors were horrified when they heard what Jonah had done. What can we do so that your God will stop the storm? they asked.

Throw me into the sea, replied Jonah. He knew the sailors were in danger because of what he had done. If necessary, he must die to save them.

No one wanted to see Jonah drown, so they rowed hard to get the boat to safety. But it was no good. The storm seemed to grow more fierce with every stroke.

Finally they realized that they too were fighting against God. So they prayed, Oh, Lord God, do not punish us if this man drowns, for this is your doing. The storm is in your hands. Then they threw Jonah into the angry waves.

In what seemed like minutes, the storm began to lose its fury. The waves died down, the battered ship sailed into calm waters, and all was quiet.

Suddenly there was a swirl of water near the ship. As the horrified sailors watched, a huge fish broke the surface of the water

swallowed the helpless Jonah, and disappeared from sight.

To his amazement, Jonah found that he could breathe inside the fish.

He prayed to God, asking to be forgiven for his disobedience.