Scripture Verse

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me. Jonah 1:2

Introduction

Words: W. E. S., in The Joy Bells of Ca­naan: Burn­ing Bush Songs No. 2, ed­it­ed by Ar­thur Ing­ler & Eli­sha A. Hoff­man (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Burn­ing Bush, 1905).

Music: Ar­ranged by Ar­thur F. Ing­ler (🔊 pdf nwc). Al­so see Ov­er There.

If you know the au­thor’s full name, or where to find a good pho­to of him or Ing­ler (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

illustration
Jonah Preaches in Nineveh
Gustave Doré (1832–1883)

Lyrics

In the Bi­ble we are told
Of a prophet who was called
To a city that was steeped in aw­ful sin;
All the people in that place
Were devoid of sav­ing grace,
And the prophet seemed afraid to enter in.

Refrain

Over there, over there,
In that land bright and fair,
Oh, he’ll tell me all about it over there;
On the hallelujah strand
I’ll take Jonah by the hand,
And he’ll tell me all about it over there.

Then this pro­phet forth was sent
That old Nin­e­veh might re­pent,
But in­stead of that to Tar­shish he set sail;
Oh! the winds be­gan to blow,
Overboard did Jo­nah go,
And he found a mer­cy seat in­side the whale.

Refrain

In the cold and briny deep
Tears of grief did Jo­nah weep,
And the big fish threw him out up­on the shore;
Then he gladly went his way,
Preached to Nin­e­veh night and day,
And he did not care to back­slide any more.

Refrain

Oh, some peo­ple don’t be­lieve
That a whale could him re­ceive.
But that does not make my song at all un­true;
There are whales on ev­ery side,
With their big mouths op­en wide—
Just take care, my friend, or one will swal­low you.

Refrain

Many souls are tossed about
By the whales of fear and doubt,
But the Sav­ior wants to take them by the hand.
If they will His voice obey,
He will save them right away,
And will guide them safe­ly to the pro­mised land.

Refrain