Chorus: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. (Isa. 22:13) There is no God. (Ps. 14:1) Who is lord over us? (Ps. 12:4)
The prophet enters into Nineveh
Jonah: Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers. (Isa. 1:4) Woe! Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city of Nineveh. (Zeph. 3:1) For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities: (Rev. 18:5)
Chorus: What will this babbler say? He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods. (Acts 17:18) There is no God. (Ps. 14:1) What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? (Job 21:15) Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. (Job 21:14) Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die...
Jonab: Yet shall ye know that there hath been a prophet among ye. (Ezek. 2:5) Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind; it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. (Jer. 23:19) The danger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart; in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. (Jer. 23:20)
Chorus: This man speaketh vain and we understand him not. There is no hope. We will walk after our own plans. (Jer. 18:12) Who will stand up against our great city?
Jonab: The day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it? (Joel 2:11) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God? (Heb. 10:31) Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. (Jon. 3:4)
Hence Nineveh's repentance begins which is quite difficult to motivate dramaturgically. In the original text the determining and dominant figure is the king of Nineveh (see Jon. 3:6-9) The author has deviated from the original text attributing the proclamation of repentance to children, their pure souls. Their innocencc is their privilege to be reconciliators and agents. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Children's chorus: Let neither man nor beast taste anything, and cry mightily unto God. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? (Jon. 3:7-9)
Chorus: Spare us, my God Lord. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. (Ps. 130:1-2)
Forward Scene V The Sign of The Son of Man
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