Jonah Poem by Day Williams

The prophet Jonah ran to sea when called
To preach to Nineveh; poor Jonah stalled
Until the waves rose high around the ship−
Then truth, that God was there, came from his lips.

The sailors threw poor Jonah overboard,
The prophet Jonah who defied the Lord;
In a great fish the prophet prayed three days
And nights, and gave the Lord his songs and praise.

The Lord heard Jonah's prayers and made command,
And the fish spewed the prophet on dry land.
The prophet heard the voice of God again:
"Go preach in Nineveh to all its men."

When Jonah preached that Nineveh would fall
Forty days hence, the city's monarch called
On citizens to cry to God, to fast
In rags, for God's hot wrath is deep and vast.

When God saw sinners turn from former ways,
He put aside the fury that had blazed,
But Jonah, angered by the Lord‘s soft heart,
Left Nineveh to watch, a man apart.

The Lord gave him a vine that grew as shade,
Then sent a worm, which left the vine decayed,
And Jonah was irate about the vine,
Which had been comfort from the sun that shined.

"This vine sprang up and overnight it died;
It wasn't you who made it grow! " God cried,
"Yet Nineveh is great; should I not care
When I have men by thousands living there? "