Jonah 1:14
Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.
This cry belongs to the record of Jonah's experience in Jonah 1-2, when he was bidden to cry against Nineveh but rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord by ship from Joppa. In providence God taught him by severe affliction the lesson of obedience that enabled him to fulfill God's purpose in behalf of the inhabitants of Nineveh. It is a record worthy of most careful study.
It was prayed just before Jonah was cast into the sea, after the sailors had tried unsuccessfully to row the ship to land while the storm grew worse and worse against them. In it they cried unto the Lord and begged Him not to let them perish on account of Jonah's life. They pleaded further that He would not lay upon them or hold them guilty for shedding innocent blood by putting Jonah to death. At the same time they acknowledged that the Lord Himself had brought about the whole situation as it had pleased Him.