Jonah 1-Micah 2

    Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, [2] "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." [3] But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

    [4] But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. [5] Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. [6] So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish." [7] And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. [8] Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" [9] So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

    [10] Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "Why have you done this?" For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. [11] Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?"--for the sea was growing more tempestuous. [12] And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me." [13] Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. [14] Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, "We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You." [15] So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. [16] Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

    [17] Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

    [2:1] Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. [2] And he said:

    "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,

    And He answered me.

    "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

    And You heard my voice.

    [3] For You cast me into the deep,

    Into the heart of the seas,

    And the floods surrounded me;

    All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.

    [4] Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight;

    Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.'

    [5] The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;

    The deep closed around me;

    Weeds were wrapped around my head.

    [6] I went down to the moorings of the mountains;

    The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;

    Yet You have brought up my life from the pit,

    O Lord, my God.

    [7] "When my soul fainted within me,

    I remembered the Lord;

    And my prayer went up to You,

    Into Your holy temple.

    [8] "Those who regard worthless idols

    Forsake their own Mercy.

    [9] But I will sacrifice to You

    With the voice of thanksgiving;

    I will pay what I have vowed.

    Salvation is of the Lord."

    [10] So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

    [3:1] Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, [2] "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you." [3] So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. [4] And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

    [5] So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. [6] Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. [7] And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,

Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. [8] But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. [9] Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

    [10] Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

    [4:1] But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. [2] So he prayed to the Lord, and said, "Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. [3] Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!" [4] Then the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"

    [5] So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. [6] And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. [7] But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. [8] And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

    [9] Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" [10] But the Lord said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. [11] And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left--and much livestock?"

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    [1:1] The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

    [2] Hear, all you peoples!

    Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!

    Let the Lord God be a witness against you,

    The Lord from His holy temple.

    [3] For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;

    He will come down

    And tread on the high places of the earth.

    [4] The mountains will melt under Him,

    And the valleys will split

    Like wax before the fire,

    Like waters poured down a steep place.

    [5] All this is for the transgression of Jacob

    And for the sins of the house of Israel.

    What is the transgression of Jacob?

    Is it not Samaria?

    And what are the high places of Judah?

    Are they not Jerusalem?

    [6] "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,

    Places for planting a vineyard;

    I will pour down her stones into the valley,

    And I will uncover her foundations.

    [7] All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,

    And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;

    All her idols I will lay desolate,

    For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,

    And they shall return to the pay of a harlot."

    [8] Therefore I will wail and howl,

    I will go stripped and naked;

    I will make a wailing like the jackals

    And a mourning like the ostriches,

    [9] For her wounds are incurable.

    For it has come to Judah;

    It has come to the gate of My people--

    To Jerusalem.

    [10] Tell it not in Gath,

    Weep not at all;

    In Beth Aphrah

    Roll yourself in the dust.

    [11] Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir;

    The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out.

    Beth Ezel mourns;

    Its place to stand is taken away from you.

    [12] For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good,

    But disaster came down from the Lord

    To the gate of Jerusalem.

    [13] O inhabitant of Lachish,

    Harness the chariot to the swift steeds

    (She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),

    For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

    [14] Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath;

    The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

    [15] I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah;

    The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

    [16] Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,

    Because of your precious children;

    Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,

    For they shall go from you into captivity.

    [2:1] Woe to those who devise iniquity,

    And work out evil on their beds!

    At morning light they practice it,

    Because it is in the power of their hand.

    [2] They covet fields and take them by violence,

    Also houses, and seize them.

    So they oppress a man and his house,

    A man and his inheritance.

    [3] Therefore thus says the Lord:

    "Behold, against this family I am devising disaster,

    From which you cannot remove your necks;

    Nor shall you walk haughtily,

    For this is an evil time.

    [4] In that day one shall take up a proverb against you,

    And lament with a bitter lamentation, saying:

    'We are utterly destroyed!

    He has changed the heritage of my people;

    How He has removed it from me!

    To a turncoat He has divided our fields.' "

    [5] Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot

    In the assembly of the Lord.

    [6] "Do not prattle," you say to those who prophesy.

    So they shall not prophesy to you;

    They shall not return insult for insult.

    [7] You who are named the house of Jacob:

    "Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted?

    Are these His doings?

    Do not My words do good

    To him who walks uprightly?

    [8] "Lately My people have risen up as an enemy--

    You pull off the robe with the garment

    From those who trust you, as they pass by,

    Like men returned from war.

    [9] The women of My people you cast out

    From their pleasant houses;

    From their children

    You have taken away My glory forever.

    [10] "Arise and depart,

    For this is not your rest;

    Because it is defiled, it shall destroy,

    Yes, with utter destruction.

    [11] If a man should walk in a false spirit

    And speak a lie, saying,

    'I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,'

    Even he would be the prattler of this people.

    [12] "I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,

    I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;

    I will put them together like sheep of the fold,

    Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;

    They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.

    [13] The one who breaks open will come up before them;

    They will break out,

    Pass through the gate,

    And go out by it;

    Their king will pass before them,

    With the Lord at their head."