JONAH

I. JONAH IN THE MOUNTAIN

Solo:
Jonah, Jonah, steadfast prophet, seer, soothsayer, Hebrew son.
Jonah, hears a voice in the thunder, the thunder that rolls in the mountains,
High in the green mountains.
Hears the rumbling song, hears the rumbling, tumbling song,
Hears the bellowing word through the trees, through the rustling, tumbling trees, through the cedars of Lebanon.
Jonah, Jonah, steadfast prophet, seer, soothsayer, Hebrew son, prophet of doom.

Narrator: And the Lord spoke to Jonah, son of Amittai, saying:  Get up and go ti the great city of Nineveh and cry against it for I have seen its wickedness.  And tell the people of Nineveh that before the coming of forty days, they will be destroyed.

II. ON THE ROAD TO JOPPA

Narrator: But Jonah refused.  He wouldn’t preach to the people of Nineveh for they were the enemies of Israel, and instead, he ran from the word of the Lord.  He gathered together a few belongings, saddled up his trusty donkey, and headed to the port of Joppa where he would find a ship to take him far across the ocean to the fabled land of Tarshish.

Chorus:
Klippety-klop, Klippety tip-ti-top.
Klippety klop he’s riding all the long, long, way, the dusty way to Joppa.
Kilippety-klop, he’s riding on his donkey, Jonah riding on a donkey down the highway.
Klippety-klop.

Jonah, Jonah, riding all the way to Joppa
Prophet Jonah goes along the dusty road to Joppa.
He’ll find a captain whose ship will sail down the ocean.

Jonah, Jonah, riding all the way to Joppa
Prophet Jonah chasing down the lumpy, bumpy, highway.
He’ll find a captain whose ship will take him
To Tarshish.

Solo with Chorus:

Jonah, Jonah, going to Tarshish, sunbeaten sky over bright golden sand.
Jonah, Jonah dreaming of Tarshish, brown summer skin under palms that wave in the breeze.
Cool waters break on the shore; clouds mark the horizon, where laughing gulls dip and sway riding the air.
Wood lilies hide neath the trees, hills covered in juniper, and delicate petals – white heather in bloom.
As night falls water will turn to glass; creatures find their shelter – the sun setting under dark, crimson sky.

Chorus:
Klippety-klop etc.

III. AT SEA
Narrator: Then it was done – Jonah was on the ship heading for Tarshish. And with calm seas, a breath of wind, and the mainsail now rising, they glided onto the watery deep.  Jonah could hear the slap and squeal of oars and the groaning of the mast as he stood at the rail and gazed over the water to the Western horizon.

And so the hours slipped by.  Sometimes wind, sometimes, sun. Sometimes cloud and drizzle.  Sometimes fish and dolphins rose from the deep to swim and jump beside them.  And a single albatross spread its mighty wings to drift along behind the rigging on the ship’s stern.

The days on deck were tranquil, the nights sweet with sleep, and when darkness fell, a myriad of stars lay in their beauty high above.

IV. THE GATHERING STORM

Narrator: On the morning of the 5th day the captain was growing restless. With the clapping of the canvass and rhythm of the oars, he stared into the southern sky.  He raised his hand to test the wind and turned to follow the flight of birds. The movement of the sailors quickened.  Some ran to examine the mainsail for wear; others to check the strength of the rigging. The mate threw out a weighted line to gauge the current and the water’s depth.  And as the wind began to hasten, a storm sail was lifted at the stern.

V. The Storm  
Narrator: By mid afternoon the wind had turned against them.  The sky darkened.  The water began to billow and swell.  And the oarsmen laboured in their stroke.  A violent storm arose on the sea, and the ship was thrown about.  And with the wind, the waves, the rain, the vessel began to take water.  And it seemed that everyone would be tossed into the sea and drowned.

The mariners were afraid.  They prayed to their gods to save them.  Finally they cast lots–who on board was responsible for the evil that had come upon them?  And Jonah, when he saw the lot had fallen on him, spoke to the men.  He told them he feared the Lord God of Israel.  He said he had run from the word of the Lord.  Take me, he said.  Throw me over the rail.  And I promise the storm will cease.

Still, the men rowed hard to bring the ship to land.  But the storm was too heavy against them.  So they took Jonah.  They cast him into the sea.  And a large whale rose from the deep to swallow him.  Immediately the wind stopped, and the waves rested, and the ship and its crew were saved.

VI. JONAH’S PRAYER

Chorus:
Jonah, Jonah,  O hear his prayer;
Jonah, now crying to the Lord.
Jonah, in his distress finds hopefulness
in songs of Praise.

Solo with Chorus:
I cry unto the Lord; I call his holy Name in my affliction.
I plunge into the sea, sinking into the depths of the ocean.

The flood has taken me; the water and waves, they close over me
I am cast from your sight, yet shall I look again upon your Holy Temple.
The waters press down; the ocean envelops me., weeds all wrapped around my head.
As my life fades away I remember the Lord, I pray to the Lord and he hears me.
I lift up my voice in thanksgivings; forgiveness comes from the Lord.

Chorus:
Jonah, Jonah,  O hear his prayer;
Jonah, now crying to the Lord.
Jonah, in his distress finds hopefulness
in songs of Love and Praise unto his Holy Name.

Narrator: Three days and three nights Jonah lived in the belly of the whale.  Three days and three nights he prayed to his God from the belly’s gloom till finally the whale spit him out on a nearby shore.

VII. NINEVEH

Narrator: And with Jonah now on dry land the Lord spoke to him a second time and said:  Jonah, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it as I told you, for I have seen its wickedness.  And tell the people there that before the coming of forty days they will be destroyed.  Arise, and go to Nineveh!

Chorus:
All the silver and gold, all the rubies and diamonds in Nineveh;
All the day and night the people eat and they drink and rejoice in Ni-hi-hi-ne-veh.
Shiny bugles blare; shouting fills the dusty air – everywhere in Nineveh.

All the towers and gates, all the babble and bubble in Nineveh.
Soldiers back from war ride their horses and brandish their spears in Ni-hi-hi-ne-veh.
Passion fills the air, prisoners trembling stop and stare – if they dare,  in Nineveh.

The spoils of war, bright rubies and gold, fine cashmere and linen so rare;
The soldiers ride with chariot and sword, and scoff at the nations they slew with great flare.

They revel the whole night long;
Of victories in battle they sing;
The warriors of Nineveh all love to swing:

Ba-da-ba-da-ba-doo, ba-doo, ba-da, day ba, doo-bee da-day  etc.

All the silver and gold, all the rubies and diamonds in Nineveh;
All the day and night the people eat and they drink and rejoice in Ni-hi-hi-ne-veh.
Shiny bugles blare; shouting fills the dusty air – everywhere in Nineveh.

VIII. THE NINEVITES REPENT

Narrator: And Jonah entered the great city of Nineveh and cried out:  Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown and destroyed.

And the people of Nineveh  believed in God and proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

And the king made a proclamation in Nineveh:  “No human being or animal, no herd or flock shall taste anything.  They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water.  All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.”  And when God saw how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind and preserved the city .

IX. JONAH’S LAMENT

Narrator: But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.  He prayed to the Lord and said: “Is not this what I said while still in my own country? That is why  I fled to Tarshish in the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, abounding in love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

X. JONAH LEARNS A LESSON

Narrator: Then Jonah went out of the city gates to see what would become of the great city of Nineveh.  The sun beat down hard on his head so God caused a vine to grow over him to give him shade. But the next day a worm attacked the vine and made it die. This greatly distressed Jonah and he wept for the vine. And God said to Jonah:  you are concerned about a vine for which you did not labour and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night.  And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the innocent animals that dwell therein?

Chorus:
And Jonah, with reverence for all,
Now saw that God’s deep love
Extends to creatures
Great and Small.