HEN the mariners were afraid, and cried every man

ゲ

unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were

in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them: but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us: what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry

JONAH DELIVERED.

183

land. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life for Thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased Thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea.'JONAH i.

T is said that 'the sea ceased from her raging' when

It is said that the sea cease
IT

Jonah was thrown into it.

Certainly the prophet

had some sense of justice, and not a little intrepidity,

thus to remove the occasion of calamity from his ship

mates. They no doubt thought he had now got merited and certain destruction for some great crime. But 'the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and Thou heardest my voice. For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight: yet I will look again toward Thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. went down to the bottom of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.'-JONAH i., ii.

JONAH PREDICTS THE DESTRUCTION
OF NINEVEH.

ND the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the

second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh,

that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it [the fasting and sackcloth] to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh, saying,

Yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.'-JONAH iii.

ONAH, it seems, careful more for his own honour and

Jo

veracity than for the salvation of souls, was 'angry'

with God that He spared Nineveh; and he beseeched God that He would take away his life. 'Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.