The King Repents

[Song] “Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.  Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life.”

Hello, my name is Miss Barb!  Welcome to Lifeline English, the podcast that helps you know God and know English.

You can read the written script for today’s lesson online at lifelineenglish.com.

Today I want to teach you four words.

The first word is throne.  Can you say it?  Throne.  Throne.  A throne is the special chair on which a king or queen sits. 
 
The next word is robe.  A robe is a piece of clothing worn on top of other clothes.  A robe is long and loose.  Some robes are worn in public to show that a person is important.  For example, judges wear robes when they are in the courtroom.  But other robes are worn by people relaxing in their homes.  We call these bathrobes.  Don’t wear a bathrobe when you go to the store!


The third word is ashes.  Can you say ashes?  Ashes.  Good!   When you burn wood in a fire, all that remains afterwards are ashes. 

The last word is violence.  That’s a hard one to say.  Vi-o-lence.  Repeat it after me.  Violence.  Violence is using force to physically hurt a person or damage property.  The violence of the hurricane surprised the people on the beach.  Gangs use violence to control people.   

In our last story, Jonah warned the people of Nineveh that their city would be destroyed in forty days.  The people were very afraid.  They stopped eating.  But what will happen when the king of Nineveh hears? 

Today’s story is called, “The King Repents”. 

When I ask you a question, I will leave a space.  You can answer my question.  Then I will say the answer.  You can compare your answers with my answers.

The king of Nineveh heard the news.
Who heard?  The king heard.
Which king heard?  The king of Nineveh heard.
What did the king hear?  The king heard the news.  He heard God’s message from Jonah.  He heard that Nineveh would be destroyed.  He heard that the people of the city had stopped eating.  

He got up from his throne and took off his robes.
Was he sitting?  Yes, he was sitting on his throne.
What was he wearing?  He was wearing his robes.  The robes showed he was important. 
Who got up?  The king got up.
What did he take off?  He took off his robes.

He put on rough clothes and sat in ashes.
Did he put on his robes?  No, he put on rough clothes.
Did he sit on his throne?  No, he sat in ashes. 
Was the king happy?  No, the king was sad and afraid. 

He sent a message throughout Nineveh.
Who sent?  The king sent.
What did the king send?  The king sent a message.
Where did the king send a message?  The king sent a message throughout Nineveh.

“The king and his important men command this! No person or animal may eat or drink anything.”
Who commanded?  The king and his important men commanded.
Did the king command by himself?  No, the king and his important men commanded.
What did the king command?  The king commanded that no person or animal eat or drink anything.

“Every person and animal must wear rough clothes.”
Who must wear soft clothes?  No one must wear soft clothes.
What must everyone wear?  Everyone must wear rough clothes.
Must animals wear rough clothes also?  Yes, animals must wear rough clothes also.

“People should cry loudly to God.”
Who should cry?  The people of Nineveh should cry.
How should people cry?  People should cry loudly.
Should the people cry to Jonah?  No, the people should not cry to Jonah.
Should the people cry to the king?  No, the people should not cry to the king.
To whom should the people cry?  The people should cry to God.
Should the animals cry to God?  No, the people should cry to God.

“Everyone must turn from his evil and violence.”
Who must turn?  Everyone must turn.
From what must everyone turn?  Everyone must turn from his evil and violence. 
Were the people of Nineveh evil?  Yes, the people of Nineveh were very evil.
Were the people of Nineveh violent?  Yes, the people of Nineveh were very violent.  They had hurt many other people. 
Must we turn from our evil?  Yes, we must turn from our evil.
May we continue to do evil?  No, we must stop doing evil.

“Who knows? Maybe God will change His mind.”
Did the king believe Jonah’s message?  Yes, the king believed Jonah’s message.  The king believed that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days.
Why did the king command the people to cry to God and stop doing evil?  The king commanded this because maybe God would change His mind. 
Did the king know if God would change His mind?  No, the king did not know.
Who knew if God would change His mind?  No one knew.  Maybe God will change His mind.  Maybe God will not change His mind. 
Maybe God will change His mind about what?  Maybe God will change His mind about destroying Nineveh.  Maybe God will not destroy Nineveh.

“Maybe God will stop being angry.  Then we won’t die.”
Will God stop being angry?  Maybe God will stop being angry.  Maybe God will not stop being angry.  
Will we die if God is angry at us?  Yes, we will die if God is angry at us.
Will we die if God stops being angry at us?  No, we won’t die.  If God stops being angry, we won’t die.

Let’s listen to the whole story together.

The king of Nineveh heard the news. He got up from his throne and took off his robes. He put on rough clothes and sat in ashes. He sent a message throughout Nineveh.
“The king and his important men command this! No person or animal may eat or drink anything. Every person and animal must wear rough clothes. People should cry loudly to God. Everyone must turn from his evil and violence.
“Who knows? Maybe God will change his mind. Maybe God will stop being angry. Then we won’t die.”

This story uses a lot of pronouns.  We use pronouns in place of nouns.  Here is how the story would sound if we used no pronouns.

The king of Nineveh heard the news. The king got up from the king’s throne and took off the king’s robes. The king put on rough clothes and sat in ashes. The king sent a message throughout Nineveh.
“The king and the king’s important men command this! No person or animal may eat or drink anything. Every person and animal must wear rough clothes. People should cry loudly to God. Everyone must turn from everyone’s evil and violence.
“Who knows? Maybe God will change God’s mind. Maybe God will stop being angry. Then the people of Nineveh won’t die.”

Wow, that sounded very awkward!  I’m so glad we use pronouns! 

When Jonah heard God’s message, what did Jonah do?  Jonah ran away from God.
When the king heard God’s message from Jonah, what did the king do?  The king listened to God’s message and turned from his evil.  He repented. 

Will Jonah be happy now?  We’ll find out in our next story!

Do you have any questions?  You can write me.  Go to our website, lifelineenglish.com. 

Until next time, may Jesus help you know Him and know English.  Good bye!

[Song] “Jesus only savior, sanctify forever, beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.  Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.”