Jonah - Libretto

CHAPTER I
1. “Jonah, Jonah” The Call of God Jonah 1:1
God (calling)

Jonah, Jonah,
Preacher of highest skill.
Jonah, Jonah,
Willing to do my will.
 
My voice is in your heart,
From you I never part.
In the temple I heard you pray,
With joy you (would) obey.

Jonah, (Prophet) Jonah,
Great Nineveh needs me.
Each lonely life is lost in sin
Too rich to care that I love them.

Your voice will be my word,
My wrath I must evoke,
Unless they turn in forty days
From all their evil ways.
 
Jonah, fear not,
Prophesy for me.
With my Word turn hearts from stone,
Help them draw near to my throne.
 
2. “Now Jonah Fled” The Sea Flee (Jonah 1:2-3)

Chorus (with Jonah singing lines with quotes around them)

Now Jonah fled to the high seas
Away from the presence of the Lord.
Tarshish was his destination
“Let Nineveh perish with the sword!”      (Jonah-brashly)
 
He knew that God would be gracious
Even to Israel’s foes.
He packed his bags and went sailing,
“Let Nineveh stew in her woes!”         (Jonah)
 
He had no love for God’s people,
Foreigners (were) not worth his time
He knew he could lose his reputation:
“God might be good to that slime!”              (Jonah)
 
The ship sailing east hit a maelstrom,
The waves were growing quite high.
Jonah went down into steerage:
“I think I’d better lie down and hide.”        (Jonah, quietly-slowly)

3. “Sea Waves Growing” The Storm (Jonah 1:4-17)
Chorus (Captain and Jonah singing lines in quotes) (present tense throughout) (A rolling, rollicking tune)

Sea waves growing in intensity (bugle/drums/organ?)
Like giants towering over elves.
The slosh and the spray are everywhere;
Sailors fearful for themselves.
 
Rolling on the portside, pitching to starboard,
The ship is listing hard.
A wave to the fore, and one at aft,
The sea is scooping out a—graveyard. (pause before “graveyard”)
 
Cargo thrown left, lighten the load;
Jonah fast asleep in the hold
Captain’s all wet, grabs Jonah hard:
“Rise up and call on your God.”             (Captain)
 
“Can’t you see…the sea vents its spleen?    (Captain)
Don’t you see we (all) shall perish?
Prophet of God pitch in or (we) die,
Soon we’ll be food for the fishes!”
 
Rolling on the portside, pitching to starboard,
The ship is listing hard.
A wave to the fore, and one at aft,
The sea is scooping out a—graveyard.
 
The sailor’s cast lots to see whose fault
Brought this calamity upon them:
“Who are you Jonah; who are your people            (Captain)
Why have you brought this bedlam?”
 
“Like a fool I’m fleeing from God’s call,               (Jonah)
(For) I am a Hebrew prophet.
The Lord made this sea, the dry land too,
This storm is His calling—trumpet.”            (trumpet interlude?)
 
Rolling on the portside, pitching to starboard,
The ship is listing hard.
A wave to the fore, and one at aft,
The sea is scooping out a—graveyard.
 
Jonah pled, “(Please) throw me in the sea,
Then the deadly storm will abate.”
But the crew rowed harder: “Save the man of God!”
They didn’t want to seal his fate.
 
Oars of sailors–twigs upon the sea,
The billows rise higher than before.
Worshiping the Lord, they make their vows,
And Jonah makes his splash far from shore.
 
Calm now the sea, and gentle the wind,          (Quietly)
As the ship sails out of sight.
A swarm of big fish eye the man of God,
And Jonah gets a fishy bite!
 
Swimming to the deep, then surfacing in air,
Jonah’s in the deep blue sea.
Trapped in jaws too tight to undo,
Jonah prays to God for—mercy.

CHAPTER 2
1. “I Cried to God” Prayer (Jonah 2) (from memory of the past to God’s presence in the present) All of Jonah 2 is a prayer—the first time Jonah prays in the book.
Jonah’s Prayer from the belly of the fish

I cried to God from the deep dark sea,      (Jonah--Remembering the past
The raging flood surrounded me.               talking about God)
Three days three nights in the big fish jaws
I remembered God, and His gracious laws.
 
I gulped salt waters in the pit of the dead,
And the seaweed wrapped around my head.
I saw tall mountains in the depths of the sea
A watery grave would be my bed.
 
   CHORUS:

Three days three nights            (Westminster Chimes,
   He prays to God.             indicating the passing of time)
   From the belly of the fish
   He prays to God.
 
JONAH:
I was driven away, from the sight of God;
No temple there to sing my song.             
God sent the fish to swallow me whole;
And the deep sea floor was dark as coal.
 
My life ebbed away like the ocean tide,
No way to save myself with pride.
No idols there to clutch or hold:
Then I remembered to THANK the LORD!
 
   CHORUS:
Three days three nights                       
   He prays to God.               
   From the belly of the fish
   He prays to God.
 
JONAH
My God, my God, I come to you.                 (Jonah talking to God)
My thanks I give, I do love you.
I vow to keep my pledge that’s due,
I thank you for your goodness true.
 
My God, My God, not distant past,     (Jonah senses he is being heard!)
You are now with me, I know at last,
I cannot swim from sea to shore.
I have no boat, I have no oar.            
 
But you are (the) Lord of sea and land
My life is ever in your hand.
I only dare to make one wish:
Deliver me from this big fish!
 
CHORUS:
   No boat, no oar
   Too far from shore.                        
   From the belly of the fish
   Jonah prays some more.
  
   God answers clear,
   He tells the fish:
   Let Jonah go
   Spit him on shore.             (striking of bells ends this piece)
 
2. “Gods Mighty Acts” (The Chorus explains the effect of prayer)
 
CHORUS
 
God’s mighty acts inspire us to hear
His call to be his love upon the earth.
When we recall God’s power in our lives,
We sing aloud, “You give us peaceful mirth.”
 
  And then our hearts move from our lives of sin
   To ask the Lord, “Forgive me once again.
   I’m sorry for ignoring your hard call,
  You are my love, my purpose and my joy.”
 
It may be loss or disobedience;
A raging sea, the jaws of misery,
That makes us yearn to be with God again,
That holds us fast, until God sets us free.
 
  And then our hearts move from our lives of sin
   To ask the Lord, “Forgive me once again.
   I’m sorry for ignoring your hard call,
  You are my love, my purpose and my joy.”

 
CHAPTER 3
1. “Nineveh the Mighty City” (Jonah 3)
God’s target, Jonah’s mission field
 
Chorus and Jonah
 
Nineveh, the mighty city,
Borders took three days to cross.
She was exceedingly wicked;
Living without God as boss.
 
Speaking of the God of love,
Jonah began to preach.
His eyes were brimming with fire
Every time he got to teach:
 
“God says “I will not have evil          (Jonah, sternly, quoting God)
I loathe self-idolatry.
Forty days, then I am acting.
Life is not lived without me.
 
“You’ve given up all inhibitions.
You don’t even care what I will.
You seek only pleasure and power.
But I, the jealous God, won’t be still.
 
“Don’t think that my love is easy,
What I give I expect you to do,
Intimate, faithful, caring,                (gently)
Is what I offer you.
 
“No other gods can you worship,         (sternly)
Or just your own life flout.
Listen to my prophet Jonah
Before the forty days are out.””          (Quoting God ends)
 
(Interlude to transition into Jonah’s reflection on his own experience)
 
Speaking of the God above                 (Chorus)
Jonah shared what happened on the sea.
From his own disobedience,
He almost ceased to be.
 
Once I tried to disobey God;       (Jonah, speaking for himself)
My life became a storm.
Heed this warning that I give you,
Don’t say that you weren’t warned.
 
If I were God and had my own way,
I wouldn’t give you one more day.
But the Lord is gracious and merciful,
Too good for you, I’d say.
 
So do whatever you want to do;
I’d love to see God’s blast.
Just keep on sinning forever;
I’d be pleased to see God’s wrath!
 
The size of the task was foreboding              (Chorus)
But Jonah with words never winced.
God had targeted Nineveh,
And Jonah knew that God never missed.
 
The people of Nineveh believed;
The king feared his throne might not last.
“Put on sackcloth and cover in ash,”
He ordered all his people to fast.
 
The king made a solemn decree:
“No one shall eat or drink or sing.
No man nor beast shall taste of food
Our sin (it) is no little thing.”
 
Nineveh turned from her evil ways,
And started to walk the holy path.
And God cancelled His punishment,
But Jonah only wanted God’s wrath…(vengeful wrath--tympani)

2. “When God Almighty Opts”
 
Chorus—counsels us to not want God’s wrath for anyone—a lot of energy in this piece (bugles and cymbals and drums!)
 
When God Almighty opts to use all might
The raging storm is not a pretty sight.
When rocks all melt and day turns into night,
Fire and red moon will be the only lights.
   (Interval music of roaring fire, like a blast furnace)
 
Fire balls from heaven and floods upon the land
If God withdraws His strong supporting hand.
Fierce winds will blow, the earth will bake and quake,
And all will care just for their own soul’s sake.
   (Interval music of wind, raging flood and lightning)
 
(Slower, with growing quiet)
 
The smell of death is filling all the land
The valley’s filled with bones that cannot stand.
True love is lost, all hope has passed away;
Only a fool looks forward to such a day.
 
Pray to the Lord to punish no one so,
Not even those we’ve known as bitter foe.
Pray to the Lord to spare us one and all
Or all of us will fall, fall, fall, fall, fall.
  
CHAPTER 4
1. “Is This Not What I Said?”
 
Jonah (to God) (Jonah 4:1-3)
“I Knew What You Would Do” is the theme.
 
Is this not what I said
While I was still at home?
That’s why I was to Tarshish bound,
It’s why I had to roam.
 
Too gracious, God, too merciful!
I knew what you would do:
By sparing sinners from their gruel
You’d make of me a fool.
 
I knew what you would do:
Abound in steadfast love.
Too good for man or beast I say:
Your emblem a frail dove.
 
How will you ever rule?
You are too weak a God.
Take my life from me;
Put it beneath the sod.
 
I knew what you would do.
I do not think it’s smart.
Unpunished are their sins;
I knew your loving heart.
 
2. “Is It Right for You to be Angry?”
God (to Jonah) Jonah 4:4 (this could be an extended love song, God gently pleading His own case---the questions are really quite profound and universal) (maybe 2-3 minutes)
 
“Is it right for you to be angry?” (This line is a direct quote from Scripture)
Who taught you so much fear?  (God solo, accompanied by chorus
Would you make of me a human?    repeating the queries)
Would you limit my love and care?
 
3. “O God of Love”
Chorus
 
O God of love beyond all loves
Beyond our ever knowing.
You look with pity at our souls,
You see your image struggling
With shame and sin, with selfish need
Your favorite child to be,
Until we hear your word of grace:
“One kingdom you will be.”                (Repeat this line?)
 
O God of love beyond our love,
Beyond imagination.
You see our plight, you love us still,
You hear our lamentation.
And from the belly of the fish
We hear your holy call:
“When on dry land you stand again,
Serve me by serving all.”
 
O God of love beyond belief,
Beyond the highest heaven.
You take a tiny faith like ours
And make of it your leaven.
May your keen ear and loving eye
Note that we are singing!
You call us all to join our hearts,
One family of God.
 
4. “East of the City”
Chorus and Jonah (Jonah 4:5-9)
 
East of the city on a high barren bluff,           (Chorus)
Jonah made a booth to await God’s wrath.
He was hopeful God would use His awesome fire
But the hot burning sun made his head perspire.
 
   Sweat, sweat, miserable sweat               (Jonah)
   Attracting the gnats and the bees.
   Sweat, sweat, all day long.
   Woe, woe is me.
 
God gave a bush as lovely as a tree.                  (Chorus)
Jonah thought, “God did something just for me!”
Then came the worms and the tree withered down,
All Jonah mustered was his usual frown.
 
Woe is me, gone is my tree,         (Jonah)
God loves the enemy just like me.
Woe is me, Wish I were dead
God’s too good, that’s what I’ve (always) said.
 
God is so gracious, long suffering and wise.      (Chorus)
It’s through our toils that he opens up our eyes.
“I’ve got a plan that’s bigger than your own.
You are a precious part, I never let you down.”

 
5. “I’ve Said it Once”
Jonah to God regarding his fears (perhaps the Chorus can sing for God overtop of Jonah the verse that immediately follows)
 
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it twice
It’s better that I die.
The only comfort you gave me
Was a bush to shield the sky.
 
But now it’s gone, and I feel faint,
If I go home I’ll be no saint,
They’ll laugh at me and say:
“From God he ran away.

(The fears of Jonah with God’s questions sung at the same time with the words that appear below) 

    
“He ended up in a stormy sea
Because from God you cannot flee.
A smelly fish swallowed him whole,             
(Then) spat him out to save his soul.
 
“He preached disaster would befall.
God never flung one fire ball!
A bush was sent to shade his head
And in only one day, it was dead!
 
“What kind of God is this?
No fire in His fist?
What kind of God do you give praise?
Has He gone on a holiday?           
 
Chorus (singing for God) (as a conclusion and/or softly overtop of Jonah above)

“Is it right for you to be angry?”                   
Who taught you so much fear?
Would you make of me a human?
Would you limit my love and care?

Jonah
I’ve said it twice, I’ll say it thrice:
It’s better that I die.
You are too kind to sinners.
Once I was the apple of your eye.
 
God (Jonah 4:10-11)

You loved that lowly bush?
It is I who made it grow.
In a single night it perished
Yet you were wounded so.
 
Should I not love dear Nineveh?
One hundred twenty thousand souls!
(Yes,) I love the beasts of the field,
But it’s you I saved from Sheol.
       
“Is it right for you to be angry?”                   
Who taught you so much fear?
Would you make of me a human?
Would you limit my love and care?

 
6. “From Joppa to the Raging Sea”
Chorus—The Love of God for Ninevehs and Jonahs
From Joppa to the raging sea
God eyed wicked Nineveh.
From the raging sea to a lonely shore
God eyed wicked Nineveh.
  “Go down, prophet
  Speak my holy word;
  And while you do your work for me
  I’m going to work on you—you’ll see:
    You need me like the rest.
    For you I’ll do my best.”
 
At Joppa and the raging sea,
God eyed prophet Jonah.
From the raging sea to a lonely shore
God eyed prophet Jonah.
   “My dear, Jonah
   Gifts I’ve given to you,
   But your heart needs mending too
   The eye of my needle is threaded for you.
     Hold me to your breast
     Let me hold the rest
     Together we’re at our best.
Shall I not love poor Nineveh?
I love even you!
Shall I not see the cattle there?
I see even you!
   Jonah, loner,
   Open up your heart.
   A wicked city filled with fun
   Is not as bad as you when glum.
     Wretched, lonely man.
     See me as I am.
   One smile across your face would do,
   It’s all I seek (from you) for praise.

7. “We Are the Ninevites”
 (a review of all whom God changed through Jonah, with words of appreciation---a kind of Hail to God for Jonah)
 
We-are-the Ninevites,                    (Soprano/Altos?)
New love has entered our lives.
We owe it all to Jonah.
He saved us from our strife.
 
   Thanks be to God for Jonah           (Chorus)
   Through him we know your Word.
   It was his faithful witness:
   Your grace is what we heard.
 
We-are-the captain’s crew;               (Basses?)
Seventy members strong.
One from every nation,
Jonah taught us right from wrong.
 
Thanks be to God for Jonah
   Through him we know your Word.
   It was his faithful witness:
   Your grace is what we heard.
 
We are citizens of Joppa                (Tenors?)
Jonah’s sweet home town.
We are proud of our prophet,
God never let him down.
 
Thanks be to God for Jonah              (Chorus)
   He smiles with your Word.
   It was his faithful witness:
   Your grace is what he heard.
 
We-are-God’s believers                  (Chorus)
We raise our voice in song.
Thank you for using Jonah,
Even when he did it wrong!
 
Thanks be to God for Jonah             (Chorus)
   With him we trust your grace.
   We long for your mercy,
   For all who seek your face.    (repeat as appropriate)       
 
8. “One Kingdom You Will Be”
This finale picks up the theme of 4.3 and expands it into a rousing finale, with the repeated verse dramatically quiet.
 
One kingdom you will be
From mountain top to sea,
For I love you all;
For each I give a call.
 
   Listen, listen, listen,
   The call comes still and small.
   Listen, listen,
   Listen for your call.
 
One call you each will hear
And it will bring you cheer.
I call you each by name,
Church, temple, mosque I claim.
 
   Listen, listen, listen,
   The call comes still and small.
   Listen, listen,
   Listen for your call.
 
One God, one sacred call,
One loving God for all.
All living things rejoice:
Delight to hear my voice.
 
  Listen, listen, listen,
  The call comes still and small.
  Listen, listen,
   I love one and all.