Jonah 4:10-11 But the Lord said, ‘You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who…

Jonah 4:8-9 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’ But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about…

Jonah 4:6-7 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. We expect…

Jonah 4:4-5 But the Lord replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry? Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. The Book of Jonah’s meaning lurks out…

Jonah 4:1-3 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, ‘Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and…

Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. Then God changed his mind. Nineveh would enjoy a stay of execution (although, as history would prove, its time would eventually come). Given that the usual…

Jonah 3:6-9 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:‘By the decree of the king and his nobles:Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste…

Jonah 3:5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. Sorry seems to be the hardest word, as the man sang, although the Ninevites seem to have no great problem in shouting it from the roof tops. Hearing Jonah’s eight-word proclamation has…

Jonah 3:3-4 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown. Look down. Whatever you do, do not make…

Jonah 3:1-2 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’ After the first two chapters have done everything possible to subvert the conventions of a prophetic story, we finally have something recognisable. This being the Book…

Jonah 2:10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Scripture overflows with depictions of individuals questioning and challenging God. Very often this is shown through rather vivid metaphors. One of my favourites is the story of Jacob wrestling with God in the Book of Genesis. Whilst God does dislocate…

Jonah 2:8-9 Those who cling to worthless idolsturn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise,will sacrifice to you.What I have vowed I will make good.I will say, “Salvation comes from the Lord. Jesus speaks reasonably frequently about the ‘Sign of Jonah’. It is easy to draw parallels between the…

Jonah 2:5-7 The engulfing waters threatened me,the deep surrounded me;seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down;the earth beneath barred me in for ever.But you, Lord my God,brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away,I remembered you, Lord,and my prayer rose to you,to…

Jonah 2:3-4 You hurled me into the depths,into the very heart of the seas,and the currents swirled about me;all your waves and breakersswept over me.” I said, “I have been banishedfrom your sight;yet I will look againtowards your holy temple. Our son is struggling with a fear of swimming at the moment. Pandemic restrictions have…

Jonah 2:1-2 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:‘In my distress I called to the Lord,and he answered me.From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,and you listened to my cry. “How are you?” must be one of the most frequently asked questions in the…

Jonah 1:17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Here is a fun whale fact for you: the first underwater photograph of a sperm whale was not taken until 1975. Just think, by this point in history, humanity…

Jonah 1:11-16 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, ‘What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?’‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea,’ he replied, ‘and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come…

Jonah 1:7-10 Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do?…

Jonah 1:4-6 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.But Jonah had gone below deck,…

Jonah 1:1-3 “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that…