Chapter IV

“Lord! to thee have I cried out of hell’s womb. Thou dippedst me in the sea. Thy great floods passed over me. The streams drive over me. I am cast out from thy sight. The abyss binds me. The rushing waves play on my head. Thou possessest my life. In my anguish I remembered my God, and besought His pity. When I am delivered from this danger, I will obey thy commands.” God speaks fiercely to the whale, and he vomits out the prophet on a dry space. Jonah has need to wash his clothes. God’s word comes to the prophet. He is told to preach in Nineveh. By night Jonah reaches the city. Nineveh was a very great city. Jonah delivers his message; “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall come to an end. It shall be turned upside down, and swallowed quickly by the black earth.” This speech spreads throughout the city. Great fear seizes all. The people mourn secretly, clothe themselves in sackcloth, and cast ashes upon their heads. The message reaches the ears of the king. He rends his robes, clothes himself in sackloth, and mourns in the dust. He issues a decree, that all in the city, men, beasts, women and children, prince, priest, and prelates, should fast for their sins. Children are to be weaned from the breast. The ox is to have no hay, nor the horse any water. Who can tell if God will have mercy? Though He is mighty, He is merciful, and may forgive us our guilt. All believed and repented. God forgave them through his goodness.