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Jonah & The Beast I · The Chosen People

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People Years had passed. The fire
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: was gone, the sword sheathed, the heads buried or rotted
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: into the earth. Jehu's reign limped toward its end, not
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: with trumpets, but with bureaucracy.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: You didn't serve the Lord, Jehu, not really. You served
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: your rage. You heard the call of heavens. and used
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: to feed the fire in your own gut.
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  Speaker 1: Golden calves still stood in Bethel and Dan, polished like
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: heirlooms no.
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  Speaker 3: One remembered the origin of.
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  Speaker 1: He had done evil in the sight of Yahweh, and
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  Speaker 1: everyone knew it.
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  Speaker 2: Let me tell you this.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Hearing God's voice isn't about knowing secrets for your own gain.
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  Speaker 1: It's about trust. The kind of trust that lets you
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  Speaker 1: act when he calls and stay silent when he doesn't.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Jonah stood upon the shores of Joppa, his eyes fixed
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: on the endless sea. The waves surged forward and fell back,
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  Speaker 1: ceaseless and restless. He breathed deep the salt and wind,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: savoring the moment of tranquility. Jonah was a man who
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  Speaker 1: guarded his peace jealously. He was a prophet in name,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: but his temperament was far from the likes of Elijah
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  Speaker 1: or Elisha. Jonah was loyal to the crown of Israel
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: above all else, and dedicated to the ease of its kings.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Jonah guarded his peace, often stealing away from King Jeroboam
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  Speaker 1: II's throne room to lounge by the sea. He was
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: a man of comfort and convenience, and he hated disturbing
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: the peace. And it was in such a moment that
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: a voice emerged from behind.
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  Speaker 4: Oh there, Jonah!
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Jonah turned and rolled his eyes. Amos, another prophet, was
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: a voice of constant doom and gloom in the courts
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: of King Rehoboam. Jonah despised him. Amos had declared judgment
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: against Israel and its kings, causing a.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Ripple effect of dread through the royal halls. Amos was brash,
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: bold and unyielding. Jonah hated him for it.
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: Ah, Amos, I've come here to be alone and enjoy
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: my lunch. Leave me in peace.
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: You've had plenty of peace, dear Jonah. It's the duty
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: of a prophet to disturb the peace.
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: You do the king and Israel no good with all
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: your negativity and doom.
• 2:50
  Speaker 6: You should be giving the king confidence.
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: Give our nation something to cheer for.
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  Speaker 4: I cheer for the holiness of our nation. share for
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: justice to our poor, and repentance from the wickedness of
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: our kings.
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: You have a lot of terrible things to say about
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: our king and our nation, but it could be worse.
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: You know, we could be like those putrid and dirty Assyrians.
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  Speaker 6: I'd rather drown in the middle of the sea than
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: spend one moment in that kingdom.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: You should be grateful.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Amos shook his head at that and sighed. From Amos
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: to Hosea, every prophet saw Jonah's potential. They saw his
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: way with words, knowledge of the old law, and sharp mind.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: But Jonah couldn't find it in him to shake the boat,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: to make waves. But Amos sensed the Lord would press
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: his potential out.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Of him sooner or later.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: Well, Jonah, I can't say I agree with you. But
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: it doesn't matter what I think. Your way will speak
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  Speaker 4: to you. I'm sure of it.
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: Yes, yes, whatever you say. Now, lead me to my lunch.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Amos descended the grassy hill leading down.
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  Speaker 3: To the shore.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Jonah huffed, rolled his neck back, and tried to reclaim
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: some peace. He breathed in deeply, drawing in breath from
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: the salt air. The cries of gulls blended with the
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: soothing crash of surf. Yet, there came another sound from behind.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Jonah. Jonah jolted back in fury.
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: Blasted Amos, I said leave me alone!
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: Jonah.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Jonah's eyes widened in fear. He recoiled, filled with awe, fear,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: and excitement.
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  Speaker 7: It's you, Amos.
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  Speaker 5: You're really speaking. You're really talking to me. What is it, Lord?
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  Speaker 7: Arise, Jonah. Go inland to the great city of Nineveh.
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  Speaker 7: Their wickedness rises before me like a stench.
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  Speaker 4: That's right!
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  Speaker 6: Those filthy Assyrians need judgment! Now we're talking.
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  Speaker 5: Shall I call down fire from heaven like Elijah? Only
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  Speaker 5: this time we'll burn that entire city to the ground.
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  Speaker 6: Cinders and ash.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, King Jeroboam will be pleased.
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  Speaker 7: You shall go to Nineveh to preach against their wickedness.
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  Speaker 1: Ward them.
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  Speaker 7: Call them to repentance.
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  Speaker 1: What?
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  Speaker 7: What?
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  Speaker 6: No, no, of course not. You have the wrong man.
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  Speaker 7: Never.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah's brow furrowed. Nineveh, cruel, violent, and hateful, was beyond redemption.
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  Speaker 1: Their atrocities were infamous, their wickedness legendary. Jonah despised them,
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  Speaker 1: and their destruction would bring him satisfaction, not sorrow. He
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  Speaker 1: would not play a part in their salvation. He would
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: not deliver mercy to those who deserved none.
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: Find yourself a bleeding heart fool like Hosea. He'll forgive
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: any disciple behavior I hear. Just ask his wife.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Jonah murmured bitterly toward the heavens. Turning sharply from the shore,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: he resolved in his heart to defy his God rather
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: than betray his hatred. Jonah approached the docks of Joppa
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: with a small pack around his shoulders. It took some
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: searching to find a ship sailing far enough away to
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  Speaker 1: widen the distance between Jonah and God. He eventually found
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: a ship bound for the distant shores of Tarshish, the
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  Speaker 1: edge of the known world. It was as far from
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  Speaker 1: Nineveh as a man could flee. He handed over silver
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: to the genteel captain, his heart set on escape, rather
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  Speaker 1: than obedience.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Interesting.
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  Speaker 8: We don't get many Israelites bound so far from their homeland.
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  Speaker 8: What business does a man of rag like you have
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  Speaker 8: in Tarshish?
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  Speaker 5: It's none of your concern. Just get me there in
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  Speaker 5: one piece.
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  Speaker 6: You're saltier than I am.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Ah, fair enough.
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  Speaker 8: We'll get you to Tarshish. You have my word. By
• 7:45
  Speaker 8: the great Yamnahar himself. I never lose a passenger.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: As the vessel sailed from the harbor, Jonah stood upon
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  Speaker 1: the deck, eyes fixed on Israel as it faded into
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  Speaker 1: a thin strip of land, and then nothingness. He had
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: left behind the voice, the duty, and the intolerable burden
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  Speaker 1: of obedience. Below decks, Jonah lay in a hammock allowing
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  Speaker 1: sleep to claim him, certain he had outrun the relentless god.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Yet above him, dark clouds gathered ominously, blotting out the sun.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: The wind rose sharply, roaring like a beast unleashed from chains.
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  Speaker 3: Lashing waves high against the hull.
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  Speaker 1: The sea turned fierce, boiling and churning, each surge striking
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  Speaker 1: harder than the last. Thunder crashed above, shaking timbers and
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  Speaker 1: bones alike. Lightning tore the darkness with jagged strokes, illuminating
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  Speaker 1: terrified faces as the sailors scrambled desperately upon the deck.
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  Speaker 1: Fear filled their voices, curses and prayers mingling into one.
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  Speaker 3: Cry against the storm.
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  Speaker 4: Below.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah slept, oblivious to God's call.
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  Speaker 6: The Lord was.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Neither distant nor done with Jonah. The foolish prophet had
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: believed he could evade him.
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  Speaker 3: But the Lord was in the wind and the waves,
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  Speaker 3: and the prophet's peace was seen shatter upon the stormy waters.
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  Speaker 1: The doors of the brig burst open with a violent crash,
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  Speaker 1: and the captain stormed inside, eyes wild, lanterns swinging madly
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  Speaker 1: in his grin.
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  Speaker 3: Oi, man of the writer!
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  Speaker 6: You must be a madman for sleeping in a storm
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  Speaker 6: like this!
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  Speaker 4: What?
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  Speaker 3: What's wrong?
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  Speaker 6: What's wrong?
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  Speaker 3: The easy ship.
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  Speaker 6: Is going down unless we appease whatever blasted god has
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  Speaker 6: done this! Come up on deck!
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  Speaker 1: Jonah followed the captain above to the deck. The sailors
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  Speaker 1: strained and... cursed as the storm raged, hauling ropes with
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  Speaker 1: calloused hands, muscles taut beneath sodden clothes. Sails whipped furiously,
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  Speaker 1: tearing like parchment beneath the storm's merciless fury. Waves crashed violently,
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  Speaker 1: sending torrents of icy seawater over the ship's rails, threatening
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  Speaker 1: to pull the vessel down into the black abyss beneath.
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  Speaker 1: Each sailor cried out to his own guard, prayers carried
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  Speaker 1: away by howling winds. Some clutched idols close. Others raised
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  Speaker 1: trembling hands skyward, begging mercy from unseen powers.
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  Speaker 6: Call upon your God. Perhaps he will be waiting for
• 10:44
  Speaker 6: none of our ears to hear our screams.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah staggered as a wave struck like a fist, sending.
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  Speaker 3: Him sprawling into rain-slick wood.
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  Speaker 1: He pushed himself up again, gripping the railing, and stared
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  Speaker 1: into the tempest. It raged like a monster.
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  Speaker 3: Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook, or tie down.
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  Speaker 4: Its tongue with a rope?
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  Speaker 5: It makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and
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  Speaker 5: stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
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  Speaker 6: Why, that better be a prayer for Murphy.
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  Speaker 7: Look!
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  Speaker 1: Another wave rose against the ship like a giant and
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  Speaker 1: crashed against the bow. Jonah lost his footing, nearly tumbling overboard.
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  Speaker 1: The captain caught him with his burly hand and hauled
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  Speaker 1: him back.
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  Speaker 3: Onto the deck.
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  Speaker 1: Lightning crackled, illuminating faces twisted by fear. Jonah knew in
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  Speaker 1: that moment, with dreadful certainty, the truth he sought to deny.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord had followed him. There would be no fight,
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  Speaker 1: no refuge, no peace. Jonah's rebellion had drawn the wrath
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  Speaker 1: of the Almighty, and this tempest was his relentless summons.
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  Speaker 1: The sailors gathered around in fearful desperation, faces pale beneath
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  Speaker 1: the glare of lightning.
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  Speaker 3: I've been out at sea long enough to know this.
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  Speaker 3: It's normal. This is anger.
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  Speaker 6: We'll cast lots to see who's to blame for such rage.
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  Speaker 1: The captain turned to Jonah, eyes wide with fear.
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  Speaker 6: You're a man, a prophet. Do you have a better
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  Speaker 6: way to consult the gods?
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  Speaker 1: Jonah shook his head, afraid to say anything. The captain huffed,
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  Speaker 1: then took the knuckle bones from his leather sack and
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  Speaker 1: cast them onto the deck. They scattered wildly as the
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  Speaker 1: wind roared. The crew watched breathlessly, praying silently to their
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: deaf gods as the lods came to rest at Jonah's feet.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Silence fell upon them all. Heavier than the storm itself.
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  Speaker 1: Every gaze pierced Jonah. The captain stepped forward, teeth clenched,
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  Speaker 1: voice shaking with fury and fear. He grabbed Jonah by
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  Speaker 1: the collar and shouted over the storm.
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  Speaker 6: Why has this evil befallen us? Speak, stranger! From where
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  Speaker 6: have you come? And what madness have you brought upon
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  Speaker 6: my sheep?
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  Speaker 1: Jonah stood in the eye of their wrath, lips trembling,
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  Speaker 1: chest heaving. Lightning painted him pale, a ghost of the
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  Speaker 1: man who boarded so confidently in Joppa.
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  Speaker 6: I'm a Hebrew.
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  Speaker 5: Your gods, they rule the sea or the earth or
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  Speaker 5: the skies, but my god, my god commands all of them.
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  Speaker 6: He made the seas. in the wind, and he made
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  Speaker 6: the land, and it's from him I flee. But he
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  Speaker 6: has found me.
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  Speaker 1: The men recoiled, cursing and murmuring among themselves, staring at
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  Speaker 1: Jonah as if he were plague-ridden.
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  Speaker 6: You fool!
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  Speaker 8: You would condemn us all to death, to outrun the gods,
• 14:08
  Speaker 8: to hold the world!
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  Speaker 1: The ship lurched again under another wake, sending every sailor tumbling.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah looked up at the lightning. His throat tightened and
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: his entire body tensed with fear and regret.
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  Speaker 3: What must we do to him? To appease your plot?
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  Speaker 1: Jonah staggered to the railing, gazing into the roiling abyss below.
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  Speaker 3: It bellowed like a great beast.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah shut his eyes, gathering what courage he could master,
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  Speaker 1: and faced the crew.
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  Speaker 4: You must.
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  Speaker 5: you must throw me in, pick me up, and hurl me.
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  Speaker 6: Into the sea. The storm will calm once I am gone.
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  Speaker 1: The men hesitated, horror etched across their faces. The captain
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: shook his head vehemently, torn between fear of their doom
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: and dread of shedding innocent blood. But as the ship
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: groaned beneath them, timbers cracking, he knew the prophet spoke
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  Speaker 1: the truth.
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  Speaker 3: What is your God's name?
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: Yahweh.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: The captain nodded, then turned his face to the raging skies.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Lightning cracked, nearly striking him.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: The captain raised his voice.
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: Yahweh, forgive us, Lord, forgive us. Do not hold this
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: man's blood against us.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: With grim determination, they seized Jonah, lifted him above their heads,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and with cries of anguish, cast him into the raging waters.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Jonah plunged downward, the wind howling around him, rain lashing
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: his skin. He struck the water, the ocean embracing him
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: with icy cruelty. Salt and darkness consumed him, pulling him
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: deeper into the heart of the storm. Jonah sank into
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: the depths of the sea, back to the abyss, looking
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: up as a sliver of light broke through the calming skies.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah began to lose consciousness as he sank deeper and deeper.
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  Speaker 5: Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens,
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: you are there. If I make my bed in the depths,
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: you are there. If I rise on the wings of
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: the dawn, if I settle on the far side of
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: the sea, even there your hand will guide me. Your
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: right hand will hold me fast. If I say, surely
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: the darkness will hide me, and the light become night
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: around me. Even the darkness will not be dark to you.
• 16:56
  Speaker 5: The night will shine like the day, for darkness is
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: as light to you.
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  Speaker 1: Deeper and deeper he sank, his lungs aching, his limbs heavy,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: and his heart weary. The prophet closed his eyes, resigned,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: and accepted his fate. Even now, Drowning beneath the waves
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: he had brought upon himself, Jonah felt relief, a twisted comfort.
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  Speaker 1: Far better this death than facing the salvation of Nineveh.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Yet as a darkness overtook him, a vast shadow blotted
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: out what little light remained. Jonah's eyes opened wide in horror,
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  Speaker 1: chest tightening as panic filled him. Something immense, ancient, terrible
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  Speaker 1: drew near, its great jaws agape. Jonah screamed soundlessly beneath
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  Speaker 1: the waves, thrashing in futile defiance. And then the jaws
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  Speaker 1: snapped shut, and Jonah was swallowed whole, sealed within a
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: tomb of scales and darkness, lost to the world and
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: the heavens alike. Jonah awoke to absolute darkness. He gasped
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: for breath, but the air came foul and stinging. The
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: stench of rot and acid choked him like poison. He moved,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: reaching out blindly, but his hands touched only slime and
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: scaled flesh, walls of living muscle closing tight around him.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Panic rose hot in his chest, his breath coming ragged
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: and desperate. The sound of his gasps magnified horribly by
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: the hollow void around him. Jonah was in the belly
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: of the beast. He could not scream. He could not move.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: The prophet of God was in an underwater grave.
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  Speaker 3: This is worse than death.
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: Help.
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: Help me, Lord.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Hours passed in agony, trapped in this underwater tomb. Jonah struggled,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: clawed and pounded against the walls of his grotesque prison,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: screaming prayers and curses alike, but the beast wouldn't yield.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Jonah's strength waned, his body aching with hunger and thirst,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: his joints cramped and raw. In bitter despair, Jonah curled
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: into himself, his spirit breaking beneath the weight of his
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: own defiance.
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: So you'll follow me halfway to Tarshish, but you won't answer.
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: me here.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah wished he could end it. He could feel his
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: skin beginning to peel from the acid. His breaths were short,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: only able to take in enough oxygen to survive, yet
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: not enough to bring relief.
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry, Lord.
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: I was wrong.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: As time stretched slowly onward, hours turning to days, darkness unchanging,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Jonah's heart began to quiet. He ceased fighting, surrendering to
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: the endless shadow. And there, in the quiet of hopelessness,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Jonah felt something stirring around him, softer than the darkness,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: gentler than the crushing despair. an unmistakable presence. God was there,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: even in the belly of this monstrous tomb. As Jonah
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: lay curled and broken, something within him lifted. Laughter came
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: softly at first, half mad yet oddly free. His laughter
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: transformed into song. His voice echoed strangely, beautiful in its starkness,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: a melody rising from despair into praise.
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  Speaker 5: I called out to God in my time of distress,
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  Speaker 5: and he heard my cry from the belly of the grave.
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  Speaker 5: You cast me down into the deep, into the heart
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  Speaker 5: of the sea where your waves crashed over me. You
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: drove me from your sight, yet still, I will look
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  Speaker 5: again to your holy temple. The waters closed over me
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  Speaker 5: to take my life. The abyss consumed me. Weeds tangled
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: around my throat. Yet even here, O Lord, I will
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  Speaker 5: praise you. Even here will my thanks rise up from
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: the darkness.
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  Speaker 1: For the first time, Peace came to Jonah, not in
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: escape or defiance, but in accepting the painful truth he
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: had fled from so desperately. He could not outrun the
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: God who pursued him with both wrath and mercy. The
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: scaly tomb was his judgment and his salvation all at once.
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  Speaker 1: It was miserable, yes, but also kept him from drowning.
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  Speaker 1: It was terrifying and uncomfortable but also drew his heart
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: closer to the Lord and even though Jonah could not
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: see it that swimming grave was moving him closer to
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: his destiny. On the third day Jonah lay curled in
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the belly of his despair limbs aching body weak and
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: numb from hunger and thirst. Suddenly A tremor surged through
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: his prison, muscles contracting around him, sending shivers of fear
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: racing up his spine. The fish heaved violently and Jonah
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: braced himself, heart pounding once more. Hope and dread mingled
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: as a strange glow pierced the unending darkness. A rumbling,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: roaring upheaval filled his ears, and the walls of flesh
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: convulsed around him. In one fierce moment, he was expelled
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: from his watery tomb, cast upward, surrounded again by the
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: bitter waters of the sea. Water surged around him, filling
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: his lungs and threatening once more to swallow him. Jonah
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: was nearly overcome by primal and fierce panic, but then
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: he looked up. Above him burned a beacon of golden light,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: glorious and warm sunlight calling him upward. Jonah clawed through
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: the water, bones grinding, muscles screaming in protest and skin
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: burning against the salt water. Yet he swam, each stroke
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: bringing him closer to air, closer to freedom, closer to life.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: He burst through the surface, gasping violently, lungs burning sweetly
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: with fresh air. Jonah opened his eyes to blinding sunlight,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: golden rays warming his skin. The shore stretched just beyond reach, inviting, comforting,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: and offering salvation. With trembling limbs he dragged himself forward,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: crawling through surf and sand until he collapsed upon the shore,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: the soft earth beneath him like a mother's gentle embrace.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: He lay there, broken but alive, laughter bubbling forth from
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: his throat. Jonah let the gentle breeze brush softly against
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: his face, savoring the warmth of sun and earth as
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: if for the first time. His laughter faded into quiet
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: sobs of relief and bitter joy. Yet even in this
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: moment of deliverance, Jonah knew the truth he wished desperately
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: to deny. He wasn't saved to escape and return home,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: but to fulfill a purpose he still feared and resented.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: The mercy of his God was relentless, beautiful, and terrible
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: all at once. He was spared, yes, but only to
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: face once more the burden he had fled so far
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: to avoid.
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: Arise, Jonah.
• 26:09
  Speaker 7: Go to Nineveh.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: Is it too late to return to the fish?
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: This Pray.com production is only made possible by our dedicated
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schellewager,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradok,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Andrew Morgan Smith. Written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on the
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: and leave a review.