Bible Stories: Jonah (Part I) Poem by Dr John Celes

Chapter I:

To Jonah, came the word of God,
The son of Amittai,
“Go to city of Nineveh
And warn them that their wickedness
Has come before the Lord! ”

But Jonah tried to flee from God
And boarded fast a ship;
He paid the fare to reach Tarshish,
To escape from the Lord!

God raised a tempest on the sea
That tried to break the ship;
The mariners got frightened much,
‘Each one cried to his God! ’

They threw the cargo in the sea,
While Jonah lay asleep;
The captain rudely told Jonah,
‘Pray God, we mustn’t perish! ’

They cast lots to detect the one,
Who brought them misfortune;
Poor Jonah turned to be culprit!
They questioned his business.

Then Jonah told them, ’I’m Hebrew,
My God’s the Creator!
He is the God of Heaven, earth,
And made the land and sea.’

When Jonah told he fled the Lord,
The men were seized with fear;
The sea was turning turbulent;
At stake were their lives dear.

So, Jonah told them, ‘Pick me up;
Throw me into the sea;
The storm was on account of me;
Perhaps, it could calm be.

The men rowed hard but saw no land;
The sea grew furious;
They prayed to God to forgive them,
And hurled Jonah in sea!

To their surprise, the sea turned calm;
May be, they did right thing;
They offered sacrifice to God
For, they were struck by fear!


(4-25-2007)