Jonah 1

Jonah Flees From the Lord

1 The word of theLordcame to Jonah son of Amittai:

2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah ran away from theLordand headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from theLord.

4 Then theLordsent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship theLord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from theLord, because he had already told them so.)

11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.

14 Then they cried out to theLord, “Please,Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you,Lord, have done as you pleased.”

15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

16 At this the men greatly feared theLord, and they offered a sacrifice to theLordand made vows to him.

17 Now theLordprovided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/JON/1-48abb264fe67363e36676c2b886134ac.mp3?version_id=111—

Jonah 2

Jonah’s Prayer

#

1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to theLordhis God.

2 He said:

“In my distress I called to theLord,

and he answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,

and you listened to my cry.

3 You hurled me into the depths,

into the very heart of the seas,

and the currents swirled about me;

all your waves and breakers

swept over me.

4 I said, ‘I have been banished

from your sight;

yet I will look again

toward your holy temple.’

5 The engulfing waters threatened me,

the deep surrounded me;

seaweed was wrapped around my head.

6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you,Lordmy God,

brought my life up from the pit.

7 “When my life was ebbing away,

I remembered you,Lord,

and my prayer rose to you,

to your holy temple.

8 “Those who cling to worthless idols

turn away from God’s love for them.

9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,

will sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed I will make good.

I will say, ‘Salvation comes from theLord.’ ”

10 And theLordcommanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/JON/2-fa1a87ed6e2a8bb27520f93dc421c8c3.mp3?version_id=111—

Jonah 3

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

1 Then the word of theLordcame to Jonah a second time:

2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

3 Jonah obeyed the word of theLordand went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.

4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.

8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.

9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/JON/3-932d77f0e3f3f6f2615dc29c8495c281.mp3?version_id=111—

Jonah 4

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.

2 He prayed to theLord, “Isn’t this what I said,Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

3 Now,Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But theLordreplied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.

6 Then theLordGod provided a leafy plantand made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant.

7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.

8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

10 But theLordsaid, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.

11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/JON/4-e6452ebf6856fc79893402945669259e.mp3?version_id=111—

Obadiah 1

Obadiah’s Vision

1 The vision of Obadiah.

This is what the SovereignLordsays about Edom—

We have heard a message from theLord:

An envoy was sent to the nations to say,

“Rise, let us go against her for battle”—

2 “See, I will make you small among the nations;

you will be utterly despised.

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,

# you who live in the clefts of the rocks

and make your home on the heights,

you who say to yourself,

‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’

4 Though you soar like the eagle

and make your nest among the stars,

from there I will bring you down,”

declares theLord.

5 “If thieves came to you,

if robbers in the night—

oh, what a disaster awaits you!—

would they not steal only as much as they wanted?

If grape pickers came to you,

would they not leave a few grapes?

6 But how Esau will be ransacked,

his hidden treasures pillaged!

7 All your allies will force you to the border;

your friends will deceive and overpower you;

# those who eat your bread will set a trap for you,

but you will not detect it.

8 “In that day,” declares theLord,

“will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,

those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?

9 Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,

and everyone in Esau’s mountains

will be cut down in the slaughter.

10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,

you will be covered with shame;

you will be destroyed forever.

11 On the day you stood aloof

while strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.

12 You should not gloat over your brother

in the day of his misfortune,

nor rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their destruction,

nor boast so much

in the day of their trouble.

13 You should not march through the gates of my people

in the day of their disaster,

nor gloat over them in their calamity

in the day of their disaster,

nor seize their wealth

in the day of their disaster.

14 You should not wait at the crossroads

to cut down their fugitives,

nor hand over their survivors

in the day of their trouble.

15 “The day of theLordis near

for all nations.

As you have done, it will be done to you;

your deeds will return upon your own head.

16 Just as you drank on my holy hill,

so all the nations will drink continually;

they will drink and drink

and be as if they had never been.

17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;

it will be holy,

and Jacob will possess his inheritance.

18 Jacob will be a fire

and Joseph a flame;

Esau will be stubble,

and they will set him on fire and destroy him.

There will be no survivors

from Esau.”

TheLordhas spoken.

19 People from the Negev will occupy

the mountains of Esau,

and people from the foothills will possess

the land of the Philistines.

They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,

and Benjamin will possess Gilead.

20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan

will possess the land as far as Zarephath;

the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

will possess the towns of the Negev.

21 Deliverers will go up onMount Zion

to govern the mountains of Esau.

And the kingdom will be theLord’s.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/OBA/1-7285169e301a67a9cd0b7c0bdb36e7b2.mp3?version_id=111—

Amos 1

1 The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoashwas king of Israel.

2 He said:

“TheLordroars from Zion

and thunders from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds dry up,

and the top of Carmel withers.”

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

3 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Damascus,

even for four, I will not relent.

Because she threshed Gilead

with sledges having iron teeth,

4 I will send fire on the house of Hazael

that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.

5 I will break down the gate of Damascus;

# I will destroy the king who is inthe Valley of Aven

and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.

The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,”

says theLord.

6 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Gaza,

even for four, I will not relent.

Because she took captive whole communities

and sold them to Edom,

7 I will send fire on the walls of Gaza

that will consume her fortresses.

8 I will destroy the kingof Ashdod

and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.

I will turn my hand against Ekron,

till the last of the Philistines are dead,”

says the SovereignLord.

9 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Tyre,

even for four, I will not relent.

Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,

disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,

10 I will send fire on the walls of Tyre

that will consume her fortresses.”

11 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Edom,

even for four, I will not relent.

Because he pursued his brother with a sword

and slaughtered the women of the land,

because his anger raged continually

and his fury flamed unchecked,

12 I will send fire on Teman

that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah.”

13 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Ammon,

even for four, I will not relent.

Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead

in order to extend his borders,

14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah

that will consume her fortresses

amid war cries on the day of battle,

amid violent winds on a stormy day.

15 Her kingwill go into exile,

he and his officials together,”

says theLord.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/AMO/1-652b46be594d398b8879ca23e4f2901e.mp3?version_id=111—

Amos 2

1 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Moab,

even for four, I will not relent.

Because he burned to ashes

the bones of Edom’s king,

2 I will send fire on Moab

# that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth.

Moab will go down in great tumult

amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.

3 I will destroy her ruler

and kill all her officials with him,”

says theLord.

4 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Judah,

even for four, I will not relent.

Because they have rejected the law of theLord

and have not kept his decrees,

# because they have been led astray by false gods,

# the godstheir ancestors followed,

5 I will send fire on Judah

that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

Judgment on Israel

6 This is what theLordsays:

“For three sins of Israel,

even for four, I will not relent.

They sell the innocent for silver,

and the needy for a pair of sandals.

7 They trample on the heads of the poor

as on the dust of the ground

and deny justice to the oppressed.

Father and son use the same girl

and so profane my holy name.

8 They lie down beside every altar

on garments taken in pledge.

In the house of their god

they drink wine taken as fines.

9 “Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,

though they were tall as the cedars

and strong as the oaks.

I destroyed their fruit above

and their roots below.

10 I brought you up out of Egypt

and led you forty years in the wilderness

to give you the land of the Amorites.

11 “I also raised up prophets from among your children

and Nazirites from among your youths.

Is this not true, people of Israel?”

declares theLord.

12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

13 “Now then, I will crush you

as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.

14 The swift will not escape,

the strong will not muster their strength,

and the warrior will not save his life.

15 The archer will not stand his ground,

the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,

and the horseman will not save his life.

16 Even the bravest warriors

will flee naked on that day,”

declares theLord.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/AMO/2-db9e8bcec811763ffba8fed763d05859.mp3?version_id=111—

Amos 3

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

1 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word theLordhas spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

2 “You only have I chosen

of all the families of the earth;

therefore I will punish you

for all your sins.”

3 Do two walk together

unless they have agreed to do so?

4 Does a lion roar in the thicket

when it has no prey?

Does it growl in its den

when it has caught nothing?

5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground

when no bait is there?

Does a trap spring up from the ground

if it has not caught anything?

6 When a trumpet sounds in a city,

do not the people tremble?

When disaster comes to a city,

has not theLordcaused it?

7 Surely the SovereignLorddoes nothing

without revealing his plan

to his servants the prophets.

8 The lion has roared—

who will not fear?

The SovereignLordhas spoken—

who can but prophesy?

9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod

and to the fortresses of Egypt:

“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;

see the great unrest within her

and the oppression among her people.”

10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares theLord,

“who store up in their fortresses

what they have plundered and looted.”

11 Therefore this is what the SovereignLordsays:

“An enemy will overrun your land,

pull down your strongholds

and plunder your fortresses.”

12 This is what theLordsays:

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth

only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,

so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,

with only the head of a bed

# and a piece of fabricfrom a couch.”

13 “Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, theLordGod Almighty.

14 “On the day I punish Israel for her sins,

I will destroy the altars of Bethel;

the horns of the altar will be cut off

and fall to the ground.

15 I will tear down the winter house

along with the summer house;

the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed

and the mansions will be demolished,”

declares theLord.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/AMO/3-ff9c61877be7ceb39bf7be127bfb0246.mp3?version_id=111—

Amos 4

Israel Has Not Returned to God

1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,

you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy

and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

2 The SovereignLordhas sworn by his holiness:

“The time will surely come

when you will be taken away with hooks,

# the last of you with fishhooks.

3 You will each go straight out

through breaches in the wall,

# and you will be cast out toward Harmon,”

declares theLord.

4 “Go to Bethel and sin;

go to Gilgal and sin yet more.

Bring your sacrifices every morning,

# your tithes every three years.

5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering

and brag about your freewill offerings—

boast about them, you Israelites,

for this is what you love to do,”

declares the SovereignLord.

6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city

and lack of bread in every town,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares theLord.

7 “I also withheld rain from you

when the harvest was still three months away.

I sent rain on one town,

but withheld it from another.

One field had rain;

another had none and dried up.

8 People staggered from town to town for water

but did not get enough to drink,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares theLord.

9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,

destroying them with blight and mildew.

Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares theLord.

10 “I sent plagues among you

as I did to Egypt.

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with your captured horses.

I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares theLord.

11 “I overthrew some of you

as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares theLord.

12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,

and because I will do this to you, Israel,

prepare to meet your God.”

13 He who forms the mountains,

who creates the wind,

and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,

who turns dawn to darkness,

and treads on the heights of the earth—

theLordGod Almighty is his name.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/AMO/4-80cda43160c35e972d237bb33b15d15e.mp3?version_id=111—

Amos 5

A Lament and Call to Repentance

1 Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:

2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel,

never to rise again,

deserted in her own land,

with no one to lift her up.”

3 This is what the SovereignLordsays to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong

will have only a hundred left;

your town that marches out a hundred strong

will have only ten left.”

4 This is what theLordsays to Israel:

“Seek me and live;

5 do not seek Bethel,

do not go to Gilgal,

do not journey to Beersheba.

For Gilgal will surely go into exile,

# and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

6 Seek theLordand live,

or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;

it will devour them,

and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

7 There are those who turn justice into bitterness

and cast righteousness to the ground.

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,

who turns midnight into dawn

and darkens day into night,

who calls for the waters of the sea

and pours them out over the face of the land—

theLordis his name.

9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold

and brings the fortified city to ruin.

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court

and detest the one who tells the truth.

11 You levy a straw tax on the poor

and impose a tax on their grain.

Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,

you will not live in them;

though you have planted lush vineyards,

you will not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your offenses

and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes

and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,

for the times are evil.

14 Seek good, not evil,

that you may live.

Then theLordGod Almighty will be with you,

just as you say he is.

15 Hate evil, love good;

maintain justice in the courts.

Perhaps theLordGod Almighty will have mercy

on the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore this is what the Lord, theLordGod Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing in all the streets

and cries of anguish in every public square.

The farmers will be summoned to weep

and the mourners to wail.

17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards,

for I will pass through your midst,”

says theLord.

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long

for the day of theLord!

Why do you long for the day of theLord?

That day will be darkness, not light.

19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion

only to meet a bear,

as though he entered his house

and rested his hand on the wall

only to have a snake bite him.

20 Will not the day of theLordbe darkness, not light—

pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;

your assemblies are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

I will have no regard for them.

23 Away with the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice roll on like a river,

righteousness like a never-failing stream!

25 “Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings

forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?

26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,

the pedestal of your idols,

# the star of your god—

which you made for yourselves.

27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”

says theLord, whose name is God Almighty.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/AMO/5-53c75891fef280ea655b39d93248034a.mp3?version_id=111—