Works of John Bunyan — Volume 02

by John Bunyan

THE PROPHECY OF JONAH

CHAP. I.

Now unto Jonah, old Amittai's son,
Thus did the word of the Almighty come,
And said, Arise, go thou forthwith and cry
'Gainst that great city Nineveh; for why,
The sins thereof are come up in my sight.
But he arose, that he to Tarshish might
Flee from God's presence; and went down and found
A ship at Joppa unto Tarshish bound:
He paid the fare, and with them went on board
For Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord.
But the Almighty a great wind did raise,
And sent a mighty tempest on the seas,
So that the ship was likely to be broken.
Then were the mariners with horror stricken;
And to his God they cried every one;
And overboard was the ship's lading thrown
To lighten it: but down into the ship
Was Jonah gone, and there lay fast asleep.
So to him came the master and did say,
What meanest thou, O sleeper! rise and pray
Unto thy God, and he perhaps will hear,
And save us from the danger that we fear.
Then said they to each other, Come let's try,
By casting lots, on whom the fault doth lie,
In bringing all this evil now upon us.
So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonas.
Then said they, We entreat thee let us know,
For whose cause we this evil undergo,
Whence comest thou? What is thine occupation?
What countryman art thou? And of what nation?
And unto them himself he did declare,
And said, I am an Hebrew, and do fear
The living Lord, the God of heaven, who
Alone hath made the sea and dry land too.
Then were the men exceedingly afraid;
And, wherefore hast thou done this thing? they said:
(For they did understand he did forego
God's presence, for himself had told them so.)
What shall we do unto thee, then they said,
That so the raging of the sea be stay'd?
(For it did rage and foam.) Take me, said he,
And cast me overboard into the sea;
So shall the sea be calm, for on my score

I know it is, that thus the waves do roar.
Nevertheless they rowed hard to gain
The land, but all their labour was in vain;
So much against them did the tempest beat.
Wherefore they the Almighty did entreat,
And said, We do beseech thee, and we pray,
O Lord, that thou would'st not upon us lay
The charge of guiltless blood, nor let it be,
That now we perish, on th' account that we
Take this man's life away; for thou alone
As it hath pleased thee, O Lord, hast done.
So they took Jonah up, and to the seas
Committed him, then did the tempest cease.
Then did the dread of the great God on high,
Seize on the mariners exceedingly.
And they did offer up a sacrifice,
And vowed vows unto the Lord likewise.
And now the Lord for Jonah did contrive
A mighty fish, to swallow 'im up alive,
And in the fish's belly for the space
Of three days and three nights, poor Jonah was.

CHAP. II.

Unto the Lord his God then Jonah pray'd
Out of the belly of the fish, and said,
By reason of affliction, which lay sore
Upon me, I the Lord God did implore,
And he gave ear; and from Hell's Belly I
Cry'd unto thee, and thou, Lord, heard'st my cry:
For thou into the deep hadst cast me out,
And there the floods did compass me about;
In the midst of the sea, thy waves were sent,
And all thy billows which my head o'erwent.
Then said I though thy presence hath forsook
Me, to thy holy temple will I look.
The waters compassed about my soul,
And the great deeps did round about me roll,
The weeds were wrapt about my head, I went
Down to the bottom of the element;
The earth with her strong bars surrounded me,
Yet thou, O Lord, from death hast set me free.
When my soul fainted, on the Lord I thought,
And to thee, to thy temple then was brought
My prayer. They their own mercies do despise,
Who have regard to lying vanities.
But with the voice of my thanksgiving, I
Will offer sacrifice to thee on high,
And pay my vows which I have vow'd, each one,
For why? Salvation's of the Lord alone.
And now the fish, as God did give command,
Did vomit Jonah out upon dry land.

CHAP. III.

And now the second time to Jonah came
God's word, and said, Arise, go and proclaim
To that great city Nineveh, what
Have heretofore commanded thee to cry.
So Jonah rose up, and prepar'd to go
To Nineveh, as God had bid him do.
(Now was the city Nineveh so great,
That it was three days' journey long complete)
And as into the city Jonah made
His first day's journey, he cry'd out and said,
When forty days shall be expired and past,
This city Nineveh shall be laid waste.
Then did the Ninevites with one accord,
Believe this was the message of the Lord;
And did proclaim a fast, and every one,
From greatest to the least, put sackcloth on:
For to the king this news was quickly flown,
And he arose, and came down from his throne,
And having laid aside his robes of state,
He put on sackcloth, and in ashes sate:
And issuing out his royal proclamation,
And through the city making publication
Thereof (being by the king and council sign'd)
A solemn and a general fast enjoin'd;
And said, I will, that neither man nor beast,
Nor flock, nor herd, shall their provision taste:
But let them all put sackcloth on and cry
Unto the Lord with greatest fervency;
Yea, let them all their evil ways refrain,
And from the violence which they retain.
Who knows if God will yet be pleas'd to spare,
And turn away the evil that we fear?
And God beheld their works, and saw that they
Had turned from the evil of their way.
And God turn'd from his wrath, and did revoke
The dreadful judgment whereof he had spoke.

CHAP. IV.

But hereat Jonah was extremely vext,
And in his mind exceedingly perplext:
And to the Lord his God he pray'd, and said,
O Lord, I pray thee, was not I afraid
Of this, when I was yet at home? Therefore
I unto Tarshish took my flight before:
For that thou art a gracious God I know,
Of tender mercy, and to anger slow,
Of great compassion, and dost oft recall
The evil thou dost threat mankind withal.
Now therefore, Lord, I earnestly do pray
That thou would'st please to take my life away,
For I had better die than live. Dost thou
Do well, said God, to be so angry now?
So then out of the city Jonah went,
And on the east side of it made a tent,[8]
And underneath the shade thereof he sate,
Expecting what would be the city's fate.
And over Jonah's head behold the Lord
Prepar'd, and caused to come up a gourd
To shadow him, and ease him of his grief;
And Jonah was right glad of this relief.
But God a worm sent early the next day,
Which smote the gourd; it withered away:
And when the sun arose, it came to pass,
That God a vehement east wind did raise;
Besides the sun did beat upon his head,
So that he fainted, saying, Would I were dead,
For it is better for me now to die,
Than thus to lead my life in misery.
And to distressed Jonah, said the Lord,
Dost thou well to be angry for the gourd?
And he unto the Lord made this reply,
I do well to be angry e'en to die.
Thou hast had pity, Jonah, on the gourd,
For which thou didst not labour, said the Lord,
Nor madest it to grow, which also came
Up in a night, and perish'd in the same.
And should not I extend my gracious pity
To Nineveh, so populous a city,
Where more than six score thousand persons dwell,
Who 'twixt their right hand, and their left can tell
No difference, wherein are also found
Cattle which do in multitudes abound.