Jonah (Limerick)

There was a prophet named Jonah,
He was told to go to Nineveh,
But Jonah was scared,
And so unprepared,
So he ran away from home-ah.

Jonah got on a boat to Tarshish,
He didn’t fulfill his God’s wish,
A storm came along,
That was really strong,
And he got swallowed by a big fish.

That fish had a bad belly ache,
What he ate wasn’t that great,
He threw up the man,
Out on the dry land,
Then he returned to the lake.

God said, so your plan didn’t work,
My commands you must never shirk,
I know they are strong,
And you don’t belong,
And to think they’ll repent is berserk.

Forty days you must prophecy,
If they don’t repent they will die,
It won’t be easy,
You may feel queasy,
And it may not work..I can’t lie.

While trying quite hard to be bold,
Jonah now did as he was told,
Then climbed up a hill,
And sat down to chill,
And waited to see what would unfold.

Wicked ways they began to lament,
So the Ninevites chose to repent,
Then both man and beast,
From greatest to least,
Time in sackcloth and ashes they spent.

God chose their sins to forget,
Jonah was a little upset,
He thought they should burn,
Now he had to learn,
About Jehovah’s forgiveness.

Over Jonah a bottle-gourd made,
Quite a bit of really nice shade,
Amazing you say,
It grew in one day,
God’s prophet was truly dismayed.

A worm with hunger demands,
Shortened that plant’s lifespan,
God sent the small worm,
So Jonah could learn,
Does a plant’s life mean more than a man’s?