Jonah receives a command to go to Nineveh and speak against its wickedness. Instead he heads in the opposite direction, traveling to Joppa and boarding a ship bound for Tarshish. A violent storm threatens the ship, and the sailors desperately call on their gods and throw cargo overboard.

Jonah is asleep below deck. When the sailors cast lots to discover who is connected to the disaster, the lot falls on him. Jonah identifies himself and admits that he is fleeing from the LORD. He tells the sailors to throw him into the sea. They initially resist, rowing harder for land, but the storm only grows worse.

After praying not to be held guilty for Jonah’s death, they throw him overboard, and the sea becomes calm. Jonah is swallowed by a great fish appointed by God. From inside the fish he prays, describing distress, descent, and rescue. After three days and nights, the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land.

The call comes again: go to Nineveh. This time Jonah goes. His warning is brief, but the response is enormous. The people believe the message, fast, and put on sackcloth. The king issues a decree calling people to turn from violence. When God sees their response, the announced disaster does not fall.

Jonah is angry rather than relieved. He explains that this is why he fled in the first place: he knew God to be gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in steadfast love. Jonah goes outside the city and waits.

God appoints a plant to shade Jonah, then a worm that destroys it, followed by a scorching wind. Jonah mourns the plant. The book ends with God comparing Jonah’s concern for a plant he did not grow with God’s concern for the many people of Nineveh. The final question is left hanging for the reader as much as for the prophet.