The call and the immediate refusal. A dub-inflected opener that lets the groove sit heavy while a prophet buys a ticket in the wrong direction and falls asleep below deck through a storm he caused.
“But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.”— Jonah 1:3 (WEB)
The word came down, the command was clear
Jonah 1:1 (NLT)The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai...
"Arise, go to Nineveh, cast away the fear."
Jonah 1:2 (NLT)Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it...
But the prophet turned, he looked the other way
Jonah 1:3 (NLT)But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD.
Running from the presence, seeking the bay.
Jonah 1:3 (NLT)He went down to the port of Joppa...
He found a ship in Joppa, a ticket to the west
Jonah 1:3 (NLT)...where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish.
Paying the fare, putting his soul to the test.
Jonah 1:3 (NLT)He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD...
Tarshish was the target, far from the light
Jonah 1:3 (NLT)...hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish.
Trading his duty for the dead of the night.
Jonah 1:3 (NLT)...went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD.
Oh, the sea is rising, the wind begins to blow
Jonah 1:4 (NLT)But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm...
You cannot hide from the path you know.
Jonah 1:10 (NLT)The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the LORD.
The storm is coming, the waves are crashing high
Jonah 1:4 (NLT)...causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
When you run from the truth, you’re just a hollow lie.
Jonah 1:10 (NLT)Oh, why did you do it? they groaned.
But the Lord sent a wind, a gale on the deep
Jonah 1:4 (NLT)But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea...
While the prophet was hidden, fallen asleep.
Jonah 1:5 (NLT)Meanwhile, Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.
The sailors were frightened, they cried to their gods
Jonah 1:5 (NLT)Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help...
Casting their cargo, beating the odds.
Jonah 1:5 (NLT)...and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
They looked for the man, the source of the shaking
Jonah 1:7 (NLT)Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm.
Found him in the corner, his foundation breaking.
Jonah 1:6 (NLT)So the captain went down after him. How can you sleep at a time like this?
"What have you done?" the captain cried in the rain,
Jonah 1:8 (NLT)Then they demanded, Who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?
"Tell us your people, explain all this pain."
Jonah 1:8 (NLT)What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? And what is your nationality?
"I am a Hebrew," he stood on the deck,
Jonah 1:9 (NLT)Jonah answered, I am a Hebrew...
"I fear the Creator, the one who brings the wreck."
Jonah 1:9 (NLT)...and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.
He told them the story, the flight from the call,
Jonah 1:10 (NLT)...he had already told them he was running away from the LORD.
The pride of the prophet leading to the fall.
Jonah 1:10 (NLT)Oh, why did you do it? they groaned.
"Pick me up, throw me into the blue,
Jonah 1:12 (NLT)Throw me into the sea, Jonah said...
And the sea will grow calm, I am the cause for you."
Jonah 1:12 (NLT)...and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.
Oh, the sea is rising, the wind begins to blow
Jonah 1:13 (NLT)...but the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.
You cannot hide from the path you know.
Jonah 1:14 (NLT)O LORD, don't make us die for this man's sin...
The storm is coming, the waves are crashing high
Jonah 1:13 (NLT)Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land...
When you run from the truth, you’re just a hollow lie.
Jonah 1:14 (NLT)...O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.
The sailors prayed, they cast him in the tide,
Jonah 1:15 (NLT)Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea...
The fury settled down, there was nowhere left to hide.
Jonah 1:15 (NLT)...and the storm stopped at once!
The sea became still, the waters turned to glass,
Jonah 1:15 (NLT)...and the storm stopped at once!
While a great fish was waiting, for the time to pass.
Jonah 1:17 (NLT)Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah.
For the time to pass... pass... pass...
Jonah 1:17 (NLT)And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
Full passage — Jonah 1:1-17 WEB
- 1Now Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
- 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”
- 3But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
- 4But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up.
- 5Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep.
- 6So the ship master came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish.”
- 7They all said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
- 8Then they asked him, “Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?”
- 9He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.”
- 10Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.
- 11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy.
- 12He said to them, “Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you.”
- 13Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.
- 14Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.”
- 15So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.
- 16Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.
- 17Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
A prayer from inside the fish. The arrangement drops to bass and reverb — everything sung from underwater, seaweed around the head, the temple remembered from the bottom of the sea.
“He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.”— Jonah 2:2 (WEB)
In the belly of the dark, I called to the One,
Jonah 2:1 (NLT)Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish.
From the heart of the sea, where the light is undone.
Jonah 2:2 (NLT)I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me.
The currents were swirling, wrapping 'round my head,
Jonah 2:3 (NLT)You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me...
Cast away from Your eyes, counting up the dead.
Jonah 2:4 (NLT)Then I said, O LORD, you have driven me from your presence.
The roots of the mountains, the bars of the cage,
Jonah 2:6 (NLT)I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever.
Locked in the silence, feeling the age.
Jonah 2:6 (NLT)...whose gates lock shut forever.
I was sinking down, into the final breath,
Jonah 2:5 (NLT)I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
Facing the shadow, the doorway of death.
Jonah 2:2 (NLT)I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!
But You heard me, Lord... heard the call...
Jonah 2:2 (NLT)I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me.
When the water was cold, and I felt so small...
Jonah 2:7 (NLT)As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD.
You brought up my life, from the dark and the deep...
Jonah 2:6 (NLT)But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!
The promise You hold, is the promise You keep.
Jonah 2:9 (NLT)I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.
My soul was fainting, the hope was a ghost,
Jonah 2:7 (NLT)As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD.
I remembered the Temple, the things I miss the most.
Jonah 2:7 (NLT)And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.
They worship the idols, the vanity they hold,
Jonah 2:8 (NLT)Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
But I bring the sacrifice, turning from the cold.
Jonah 2:9 (NLT)But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise...
A debt that is paid, a heart that is true,
Jonah 2:9 (NLT)I will fulfill all my vows.
Salvation belongs to the hand of the Few.
Jonah 2:9 (NLT)For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.
The storm is forgotten, the sea has its say,
Jonah 2:10 (NLT)Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out...
Deliverance is rising, at the breaking of day.
Jonah 2:10 (NLT)...to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
I will pay what I vowed, I will walk in the light,
Jonah 2:9 (NLT)I will fulfill all my vows.
No more running from shadows, no more fear in the night.
Jonah 2:4 (NLT)Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.
Let the fish be the vessel, let the ocean subside,
Jonah 2:10 (NLT)Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
There is nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide.
Jonah 2:8 (NLT)Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
Salvation... Salvation...
Jonah 2:9 (NLT)For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.
The deep... the deep...
Jonah 2:3 (NLT)You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea...
Let the light come in... let the light come in...
Jonah 2:10 (NLT)...spit Jonah out onto the beach.
Full passage — Jonah 2:1-10 WEB
- 1Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish’s belly.
- 2He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.
- 3For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.
- 4I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
- 5The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head.
- 6I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.
- 7“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
- 8Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
- 9But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”
- 10Then Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.
The second call, obeyed. Forty days announced, and the largest city in the world puts on sackcloth from the throne down to the cattle. The sermon is eight words long and it works.
“The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.”— Jonah 3:5 (WEB)
Forty days and the city will fall
Jonah 3:4 (NLT)On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!
The prophet walked in, he delivered the call.
Jonah 3:3 (NLT)This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh...
Nineveh heard, from the king to the street,
Jonah 3:5 (NLT)The people of Nineveh believed God’s message...
The pride of the nation fell down to its feet.
Jonah 3:5 (NLT)...and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
They put on the sackcloth, they fasted the bread?
Jonah 3:5 (NLT)...they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
Turning from the violence, leaving the dead.
Jonah 3:8 (NLT)Let everyone pray earnestly to God. Let them turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.
The king rose up, cast his throne to the floor,
Jonah 3:6 (NLT)When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes.
"Maybe He’ll listen, maybe He’ll open the door."
Jonah 3:9 (NLT)Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.
Change the way, turn the tide
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways...
There’s a mercy deep inside
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
From the dust to the crown, they hit the ground
Jonah 3:5 (NLT)...from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast...
The grace of the One is the only sound.
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
God saw the change, He saw the heart turn
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways...
He pulled back the fire that was starting to burn.
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
The judgment was lifted, the sentence was stayed,
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction...
The debt of the city was completely paid.
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
The grace of the One...
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)When God saw what they had done...
...is the only sound...
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...he changed his mind...
Turn the tide...
Jonah 3:8 (NLT)Let them turn from their evil ways...
...turn the tide...
Jonah 3:8 (NLT)...and stop all their violence.
Change the way, turn the tide
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways...
There’s a mercy deep inside
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
From the dust to the crown, they hit the ground
Jonah 3:5 (NLT)...from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast...
The grace of the One is the only sound.
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Mercy... it falls like rain...
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Mercy... to wash away the stain...
Jonah 3:10 (NLT)...he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Full passage — Jonah 3:1-10 WEB
- 1Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the second time, saying,
- 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you.”
- 3So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to Yahweh’s word. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey across.
- 4Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”
- 5The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.
- 6The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- 7He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
- 8but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
- 9Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
- 10God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.
The anger after the mercy. A prophet sulking under a dying plant while God asks the last question in the book and never answers it. The record ends on the question mark.
“Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?””— Jonah 4:11 (WEB)
Jonah sat outside, watching the heat
Jonah 4:5 (NLT)Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under...
Waiting for the fire on the busy street.
Jonah 4:5 (NLT)...as he waited to see what would happen to the city.
The sun was a hammer, the air was a blade,
Jonah 4:8 (NLT)And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint...
But a vine grew up, giving him shade.
Jonah 4:6 (NLT)And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him...
He loved the green, he loved the cool,
Jonah 4:6 (NLT)This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
Thinking he was wise, but feeling like a fool.
Jonah 4:1 (NLT)This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.
Then came the worm, a tiny little thing,
Jonah 4:7 (NLT)But God also arranged for a worm!
And the vine withered down, losing its sting.
Jonah 4:7 (NLT)The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.
Oh, the shade fades fast...
Jonah 4:7 (NLT)...the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.
Nothing built on pride is meant to last...
Jonah 4:4 (NLT)The LORD replied, Is it right for you to be angry about this?
You cared for the plant, for the vine in the light...
Jonah 4:10 (NLT)Then the LORD said, You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.
But what about the thousands lost in the night?
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?
"I'm angry," he muttered, "enough to die,"
Jonah 4:9 (NLT)Yes, Jonah retorted, even angry enough to die!
Looking at the clouds in the burning sky.
Jonah 4:8 (NLT)The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die.
The Voice came soft, a weight in the air:
Jonah 4:10 (NLT)Then the LORD said...
"You value the vine, but you don't even care
Jonah 4:10 (NLT)You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there...
For the city of thousands, who don't know the way,
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness...
Lost in their darkness, looking for day."
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)...Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?
Lost in the night...
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)...living in spiritual darkness...
The lesson is mercy...
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?
...deeper than the sea...
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?
Mercy for you...
Jonah 4:6 (NLT)And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there...
...Mercy for me...
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?
Oh, the shade fades fast...
Jonah 4:7 (NLT)...the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.
Nothing built on pride is meant to last...
Jonah 4:4 (NLT)The LORD replied, Is it right for you to be angry about this?
You cared for the plant, for the vine in the light...
Jonah 4:10 (NLT)Then the LORD said, You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.
But what about the thousands lost in the night?
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?
The lesson is mercy... deeper than the sea...
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?
Mercy... for you and for me...
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?
Mercy... Mercy...
Jonah 4:11 (NLT)Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?
Full passage — Jonah 4:1-11 WEB
- 1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
- 2He prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please, Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.
- 3Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- 4Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
- 5Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
- 6Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.
- 7But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.
- 8When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
- 9God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”
- 10Yahweh said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night.
- 11Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?”