The biblical book of Jonah is a unique and compelling narrative found within the Old Testament. Unlike other prophetic books that primarily consist of a prophet’s direct messages or oracles, Jonah tells a dramatic story about the prophet himself. Use this Jonah and the big fish page in kids ministry: read the Bible text of Jonah 1 to 3 with its pictures, then follow with a coloring page or one of the Jonah videos below.
Get 25 five-minute children’s sermons, each on one Bible passage with one simple object from around the house. Free printable PDF from the Sunday School Store.
At its heart, the book of Jonah is a powerful exploration of God’s boundless mercy and compassion, extending even to those we might consider our enemies, and a challenge to human prejudices.
The story begins with a divine command: God instructs Jonah, a Hebrew prophet, to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. Nineveh was a formidable and notoriously wicked city, known for its cruelty, and a bitter adversary of Israel. God’s message for Nineveh is one of impending judgment due to their great evil.
Jonah Flees from the Lord Jonah chapter 1
The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
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.
Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
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.
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.”
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.
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?”
He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
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.)
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?”
“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.”
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
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.”
Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah’s Prayer (Jonah chapter 2)
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.
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.
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.
I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
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.
“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
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.’ ”
And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah Goes to Nineveh (Jonah chapter 3)
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
“Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
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.
Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
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.
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.
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.
Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
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.
Jonah 4: Jonah learns about God’s mercy
Jonah was angry that God forgave Nineveh. God made a plant grow to shade him, and then let it wither. God used the plant to show Jonah that He cares about all the people of Nineveh.
Coloring page Jonah and the Big Fish
Jonah videos, a preschool lesson, and a whale game
Below you will find Jonah children’s sermons and craft videos, a Jonah preschool lesson, a Jonah and the whale game, and a Jonah coloring page from Ministry-to-Children.
Jonah children’s sermons and crafts
Jonah Gets Swallowed by the Big Fish is a children’s sermon lesson on the storm and the fish.
Jonah’s Fish is a Bible craft idea for kids.
Jonah’s Second Chance is a children’s sermon lesson on Jonah 3:1-5, 10.
Lessons are very much understanding thank you for the clarification