The Last Scribe

Jonah 1 · 17 verses · Joppa and the sea

Jonah 1 as a game: the call, the storm and the great fish

Stand at the harbor when Jonah pays his fare to Tarshish, going the other way from Nineveh. See the storm the LORD sent, hear the shipmaster wake him, and watch what the sailors do.

Play free Try the quiz questions

No download. Plays in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Revelation 1 and the Baptism of Jesus are free to try first.

What you will see

One voyage from Joppa, told from the call to the great fish

You arrive as a Scribe, sent to witness the chapter and write it down. Jonah 1 is one map you can walk end to end, and two people of the chapter stand on it: Jonah the son of Amittai, and the master of the ship he boarded. Each speaks only from their own verses, so what you hear is the chapter, in order. Jonah tells you of the word that came to him, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city”, and of the answer he gave the sailors when the lot fell on him.

Three things wait to be found and read. Find the harbor of Joppa, where Jonah “found a ship going to Tarshish” and paid the fare. Find the ship in the tempest, where the mariners cast the wares into the sea while Jonah lay below, “fast asleep”. And find the great fish the LORD had prepared. The quest takes you through them in the chapter’s order: the harbor, Jonah’s own account, the ship, the shipmaster, and the fish.

The chapter is told as it is written. The sailors “rowed hard to bring it to the land”, prayed to the LORD, and when the sea was calm they “feared the LORD exceedingly”. Jonah was “in the belly of the fish three days and three nights”, and the story goes on in Jonah 2. When you have seen it all, step into the quiz zone and sixteen questions ask what you saw.

Jonah 1 in the game: the map of the chapter with its people standing where the passage puts them
The game itself, not a mock-up: Jonah 1.

The chapter, in order

The quest, Flight from the LORD, has six steps, and they follow the chapter in order. Nothing is added to the text; the steps are a way of making sure you miss none of it.

  1. Visit the harbor of Joppa.
  2. Hear Jonah explain his flight and confession.
  3. Examine the storm-tossed ship.
  4. Speak with the ship captain.
  5. Witness the great fish.
  6. Complete the quiz.

Who you meet

Two people and voices stand in the chapter. Each speaks only from their own place in the chapter.

  • Jonah son of Amittai — the prophet who ran “from the presence of the LORD”, and tells you of the call, the lots and his confession to the sailors.
  • The Ship Captain — the shipmaster who woke Jonah in the storm and told him, “arise, call upon thy God”.

What you find

Walk up to any of these and the game reads you the verses it comes from, in the King James Version.

  • The Harbor of Joppa (Jonah 1:3)
  • The Storm-Tossed Ship (Jonah 1:5)
  • The Great Fish (Jonah 1:17)

The verse of the great fish

“Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17, King James Version

Every verse the game quotes is the KJV. Where a character speaks in their own words, the dialogue is written from the chapter and checked against our doctrinal rules before release. The about page says plainly how we read the Bible.

Try five of the sixteen

Jonah 1 quiz questions, with answers

Five real questions from the Jonah 1 quiz, in the game's own words. In the game the options are shuffled every time, and you need 70% to pass.

1. Where did God tell Jonah to go?

  1. Nineveh
  2. Jerusalem
  3. Babylon
  4. Tarshish
Show the answer

A. Nineveh God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, that great city.

Jonah 1:2

2. What was Jonah doing during the storm?

  1. Sleeping below deck
  2. Helping the sailors
  3. Crying out to God
  4. Praying on deck
Show the answer

A. Sleeping below deck Jonah had gone below deck and was fast asleep.

Jonah 1:5

3. How did the sailors determine who caused the storm?

  1. They asked each passenger
  2. They prayed to their gods
  3. They cast lots
  4. They drew straws
Show the answer

C. They cast lots They cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

Jonah 1:7

4. What did the sailors try to do before throwing Jonah overboard?

  1. They tried to sail to another port
  2. They threw more cargo overboard
  3. They rowed hard to bring the ship to land
  4. They prayed to Jonah’s God first
Show the answer

C. They rowed hard to bring the ship to land The men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not.

Jonah 1:13

5. How did the sailors respond after the sea calmed?

  1. They sailed away quickly
  2. They feared the LORD exceedingly, offered sacrifices, and made vows
  3. They celebrated with a feast
  4. They returned to their own gods
Show the answer

B. They feared the LORD exceedingly, offered sacrifices, and made vows The men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Jonah 1:16

Right answers pay 10 XP each and a perfect score pays 50 more. In a room, everyone answers the same quiz and sees how the others did. More on how the quiz works.

Chapter facts

17
verses, every one covered by something you see, hear or read
16
quiz questions, each tied to a verse
2
people and voices to speak with
3
things to find and read
1–6
players in a room; solo play is fine too
KJV
every verse quoted from the King James Version

How to play it

  1. Open the game in your browser and make an account. A child under 13 gives a parent's email instead of their own, and the parent confirms before the child can play with anyone else; see the page for parents.
  2. Play the short intro story in the Archivery, the library where the Scribe finds the Book. It is free and takes a few minutes.
  3. Open the world map and choose Jonah 1. To play with others, start a room and share its code, which looks like SCRIBE-7K4P2Q; up to six people can join from their own devices.
  4. Walk the map, speak with everyone, read everything, then step into the quiz zone.

Free, and with a subscription

Jonah 1 is part of the subscription ($9.99 a month or $79.99 a year). Chapters open in Bible order along a road through the books, era by era, so Jonah 1 opens when you reach Jonah on that road; nobody skips ahead. See pricing.

Free forever, for every player: the intro story, Revelation 1, the story scene The Baptism of Jesus, and four open lands to walk with other players: the City of the Last Days, the Garden of Eden, Judea in the days of Jesus, and Patmos and the Seven Churches. Revelation 1 is a good first chapter to try before you subscribe.

More to play

Board the ship at Joppa.

Jonah 1 is a short chapter. Walk it alone, or start a room and share its code with up to five friends.

Start with the free chapters