They said to him, "Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? What's your occupation? Where do you come from? What's your country? And who are your people?"

He said to them, "I am a Hebrew! And I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.

Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die."

He prayed to the Lord and said, "Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! -- because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.

Should I not be even more concerned about Nineveh, this enormous city? There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, as well as many animals!"