a-a Lit. “Do not,” and so through v. 14.
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c I.e., the Israelites.
d Emendation yields “at My hand,” cf. Isa. 51.17; Jer. 25.15; Ps. 75.9.
e I.e., inviolate; cf. Jer. 2.3.
f Meaning of parts of vv. 19–21 uncertain.
g After the exile of the northern tribes, the city and district of Samaria were occupied mainly by non-Israelites.
h Emendation yields “the land of the Ammonites.”
i A town in southern Phoenicia; see 1 Kings 17.9.
j Probably Asia Minor, called Saparda in Persian cuneiform inscriptions.
k-k Several ancient versions read, “they [the exiles from Jerusalem named in the preceding verse] shall march up victorious.”
Jonah
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonaha son of Amittai: 2Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim judgment upon it; for their wickedness has come before Me.
3Jonah, however, started out to flee to Tarshish from the LORD’s service. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went aboard to sail with the others to Tarshish, away from the service of the LORD.
4But the LORD cast a mighty wind upon the sea, and such a great tempest came upon the sea that the ship was in danger of breaking up. 5In their fright, the sailors cried out, each to his own god; and they flung the ship’s cargo overboard to make it lighter for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the vessel where he lay down and fell asleep. 6The captain went over to him and cried out, “How can you be sleeping so soundly! Up, call upon your god! Perhaps the god will be kind to us and we will not perish.”
7The men said to one another, “Let us cast lots and find out on whose account this misfortune has come upon us.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8They said to him, “Tell us, you who have brought this misfortune upon us, what is your business? Where have you come from? What is your country, and of what people are you?” 9“I am a Hebrew,” he replied. “I worship the LORD, the God of Heaven, who made both sea and land.” 10The men were greatly terrified, and they asked him, “What have you done?” And when the men learned that he was fleeing from the service of the LORD—for so he told them—11they said to him, “What must we do to you to make the sea calm around us?” For the sea was growing more and more stormy. 12He answered, “Heave me overboard, and the sea will calm down for you; for I know that this terrible storm came upon you on my account.” 13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to regain the shore, but they could not, for the sea was growing more and more stormy about them. 14Then they cried out to the LORD: “Oh, please, LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of killing an innocent person! For You, O LORD, by Your will, have brought this about.” 15And they heaved Jonah overboard, and the sea stopped raging.
16The men feared the LORD greatly; they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and they made vows.
2 The LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the fish’s belly three days and three nights. 2Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish. 3He said:
In my trouble I called to the LORD,
And He answered me;
From the belly of Sheol I cried out,
And You heard my voice.
4You cast me into the depths,
Into the heart of the sea,
The floods engulfed me;
All Your breakers and billows
Swept over me.
5I thought I was driven away
Out of Your sight:
Would I ever gaze again
Upon Your holy Temple?
6The waters closed in over me,
The deep engulfed me.
Weeds twined around my head.
7I sank to the base of the mountains;
The bars of the earth closed upon me forever.
Yet You brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God!
8When my life was ebbing away,
I called the LORD to mind;
And my prayer came before You,
Into Your holy Temple.
9They who cling to empty folly
Forsake their own welfare,a
10But I, with loud thanksgiving,
Will sacrifice to You;
What I have vowed I will perform.
Deliverance is the LORD’s!
11The LORD commanded the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon dry land.
3 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2“Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it what I tell you.” 3Jonah went at once to Nineveh in accordance with the LORD’s command.
Nineveh was a-an enormously large city-a a three days’ walk across. 4Jonah started out and made his way into the city the distance of one day’s walk, and proclaimed: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
5The people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast, and great and small alike put on sackcloth. 6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7And he had the word cried through Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles: No man or beast—of flock or herd—shall taste anything! They shall not graze, and they shall not drink water! 8They shall be covered with sackcloth—man and beast—and shall cry mightily to God. Let everyone turn back from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty. 9Who knows but that God may turn and relent? He may turn back from His wrath, so that we do not perish.”
10God saw what they did, how they were turning back from their evil ways. And God renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them, and did not carry it out.
4 This displeased Jonah greatly, and he was grieved. 2He prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD! Isn’t this just what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I fled beforehand to Tarshish. For I know that You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, renouncing punishment. 3Please, LORD, take my life, for I would rather die than live.” 4The LORD replied, “Are you that deeply grieved?”
5Now Jonah had left the city and found a place east of the city. He made a booth there and sat under it in the shade, until he should see what happened to the city. 6The LORD God provided a ricinus plant,a which grew up over Jonah, to provide shade for his head and save him from discomfort. Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7But the next day at dawn God provided a worm, which attacked the plant so that it withered. 8And when the sun rose, God provided a sultryb east wind; the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he became faint. He begged for death, saying, “I would rather die than live.” 9Then God said to Jonah, “Are you so deeply grieved about the plant?” “Yes,” he replied, “so deeply that I want to die.”
10Then the LORD said: “You cared about the plant, which you did not work for and which you did not grow, which appeared overnight and perished overnight. 11And should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not yet know their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well!”c
a Mentioned in 2 Kings 14.25.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Lit. “a large city of God.”
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “gourd.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Infants and beasts are not held responsible for their actions.
Micah
1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied concerning Samaria and Jerusalem in the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.
2Listen, all you peoples,
Give heed, O earth, and all it holds;
And let my Lord GOD be your accuser—
My Lord from His holy abode.
3For lo! the LORD
Is coming forth from His dwelling-place,
He will come down and stride
Upon the heights of the earth.
4The mountains shall melt under Him
And the valleys burst open—
Like wax before fire,
Like water cascading down a slope.
5All this is for the transgression of Jacob,
And for the sins of the House of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob
But Samaria,
And what the shrinesa of Judah
But Jerusalem?
6So I will turn Samaria
Into a ruin in open country,
Into ground for planting vineyards;
For I will tumble her stones into the valley
And lay her foundations bare.
7All her sculptured images shall be smashed,
And all her harlot’s wealth be burned,
And I will make a waste heap of all her idols,
For they were amassed from fees for harlotry,
And they shall become harlots’ fees again.
8Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will go stripped and naked!
I will lament as sadly as the jackals,
As mournfully as the ostriches.
9For herb wound is incurable,
It has reached Judah,
It has spread to the gate of my people,
To Jerusalem.
10cTell it not in Gath,
Refrain from weeping;d
In Beth-leaphrah,
Strew duste over your [head].
11Pass on, inhabitants of Shaphir!
Did not the inhabitants of Zaanan
Have to go forth naked in shame?
There is lamentation in Beth-ezel—
It will withdraw its support from you.
12Though the inhabitants of Maroth
Hoped for good,
Yet disaster from the LORD descended
Upon the gate of Jerusalem.
13Hitch the steeds to the chariot,
Inhabitant of Lachish!
It is the beginning
Of Fair Zion’s guilt;
Israel’s transgressions
Can be traced to you!
14Truly, you must give a farewell gift
To Moresheth-gath.
f-The houses of Achzib are-f
To the kings of Israel
Like a spring that fails.
15A dispossessor will I bring to you
Who dwell in Mareshah;
At Adullam the glory
Of Israel shall
