Obadiah 1; Jonah 1; Jonah 2; Jonah 3; Jonah 4

1 This is the vision about Edom that Obadiah had. Here is what he said. We've heard a message from the LORD and King. A messenger was sent to the nations. The LORD told him to say, "Get up! Let us go and make war against Edom."

2 The LORD says to Edom, "I will make you weak among the nations. They will look down on you.

3 You live in the safety of the rocks. You make your home high up in the mountains. But your proud heart has tricked you. So you say to yourself, 'No one can bring me down to the ground.'

4 You have built your home as high as an eagle does. You have made your nest among the stars. But I will bring you down from there," announces the Lord.

5 "Edom, suppose robbers came to you at night. They would steal only as much as they wanted. Suppose grape pickers came to harvest your vines. They would still leave a few grapes. But you are facing horrible trouble!

6 People of Esau, everything will be taken away from you. Your hidden treasures will be stolen.

7 All those who are helping you will force you to leave your country. Your friends will trick you and overpower you. Those who eat bread with you will set a trap for you. But you will not see it."

8 The LORD announces, "At that time I will destroy the wise men of Edom. I will wipe out the men of understanding in the mountains of Esau.

9 People of Teman, your soldiers will be terrified. Everyone in Esau's mountains will be cut down with swords.

10 You did harmful things to your brothers, the people of Jacob. So you will be covered with shame. You will be destroyed forever.

11 Strangers entered the gates of Jerusalem. They cast lots to see what each one would get. They carried off its wealth. When that happened, you just stood there and did nothing. You were like one of them.

12 That was a time of trouble for your brothers. So you should not have looked down on them. The people of Judah were destroyed. So you should not have been happy about it. You should not have laughed at them so much when they were in trouble.

13 You should not have marched through the gates of my people's city when they were having so much trouble. You should not have looked down on them. You should not have stolen their wealth.

14 You waited where the roads cross. You wanted to cut down those who were running away. You should not have done that. You handed over to their enemies those who were still left alive. You should not have done that. They were in trouble.

15 "The day of the LORD is near for all of the nations. Others will do to you what you have done to them. You will be paid back for what you have done.

16 You Edomites polluted my holy mountain of Zion by drinking and celebrating there. So all of the nations will drink from the cup of my anger. And they will keep on drinking from it. They will vanish. It will be as if they had never existed.

17 But on Mount Zion some of my people will be left alive. I will save them. Zion will be my holy mountain once again. And the people of Jacob will again receive the land as their own.

18 They will be like a fire. Joseph's people will be like a flame. The nation of Esau will be like straw. Jacob's people will set Edom on fire and burn it up. No one will be left alive among Esau's people." The LORD has spoken.

19 Israelites from the Negev Desert will take over Esau's mountains. Israelites from the western hills will possess Philistia. They'll take over the territories of Ephraim and Samaria. Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin will possess the land of Gilead.

20 Some Israelites were forced to leave their homes. They'll come back to Canaan and possess it all the way to the town of Zarephath. Some people from Jerusalem were taken to the city of Sepharad. They'll return and possess the towns of the Negev Desert.

21 Leaders from Mount Zion will go and rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.

1 A message from the LORD came to Jonah. He was the son of Amittai. The LORD said,

2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh. Preach against it. The sins of its people have come to my attention."

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord. He headed for Tarshish. So he went down to the port of Joppa. There he found a ship that was going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board. Then he sailed for Tarshish. He was running away from the Lord.

4 But the LORD sent a strong wind over the Mediterranean Sea. A wild storm came up. It was so wild that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.

5 All of the sailors were afraid. Each one cried out to his own god for help. They threw the ship's contents into the sea. They were trying to make the ship lighter. But Jonah had gone below deck. There he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

6 The captain went down to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call out to your god for help! Maybe he'll pay attention to what's happening to us. Then we won't die."

7 The sailors said to one another, "Come. Let's cast lots to find out who is to blame for getting us into all of this trouble." So they did. And Jonah was picked.

8 They asked him, "What terrible thing have you done to bring all of this trouble on us? Tell us. What do you do for a living? Where do you come from? What is your country? What people do you belong to?"

9 He answered, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship the Lord. He is the God of heaven. He made the sea and the land."

10 They found out he was running away from the Lord. That's because he had told them. Then they became terrified. So they asked him, "How could you do a thing like that?"

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

12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied. "Then it will become calm. I know it's my fault that this terrible storm has come on you."

13 Instead of doing what he said, the men did their best to row back to land. But they couldn't. The sea got even rougher than before.

14 Then they cried out to the Lord. They prayed, "Lord, please don't let us die for taking this man's life. After all, he might not be guilty of doing anything wrong. So don't hold us accountable for killing him. Lord, you always do what you want to."

15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard. And the stormy sea became calm.

16 When the men saw what had happened, they began to have great respect for the Lord. They offered a sacrifice to him. And they made promises to him.

17 But the LORD sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.

2 He said, "When I was in trouble, I called out to you. And you answered me. When I had almost drowned, I called out for help. And you listened to my cry.

3 You threw me into the Mediterranean Sea. I was in the middle of its waters. They were all around me. All of your rolling waves were sweeping over me.

4 I said, 'I have been driven away from you. But I will look again toward your holy temple in Jerusalem.'

5 I had almost drowned in the waves. The deep waters were all around me. Seaweed was wrapped around my head.

6 I sank down to the bottom of the mountains. I thought I had died and gone down into the grave forever. But you brought my life up from the very edge of the pit. You are the LORD my God.

7 "When my life was nearly over, I remembered you, Lord. My prayer rose up to you. It reached you in your holy temple in heaven.

8 "Some people worship the worthless statues of their gods. They turn away from the grace you want to give them.

9 But I will sacrifice a thank offering to you. And I will sing a song of thanks. I will do what I have promised. Lord, you are the one who saves."

10 The LORD gave the fish a command. And it spit Jonah up onto dry land.

1 A message came to Jonah from the LORD a second time. He said,

2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce to its people the message I give you."

3 Jonah obeyed the Lord. He went to Nineveh. It was a very important city. In fact, it took about three days to see all of it.

4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He announced, "In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed."

5 The people of Nineveh believed God's warning. They decided not to eat any food for a while. All of them put on black clothes. That's what everyone from the least important of them to the most important did.

6 The news reached the king of Nineveh. He got up from his throne. He took his royal robes off and dressed himself in black clothes. He sat down in the dust.

7 Then he sent out a message to the people of Nineveh. He said, "I and my nobles give this order. "Don't let any person or animal taste anything. That includes your herds and flocks. People and animals must not eat or drink anything.

8 Let people and animals alike be covered with black cloth. All of you must call out to God with all your hearts. Stop doing what is evil. Don't harm others.

9 Who knows? God might take pity on us. He might turn away from his burning anger. Then we won't die."

10 God saw what they did. They stopped doing what was evil. So he took pity on them. He didn't destroy them as he had said he would.

1 But Jonah was very upset. He became angry.

2 He prayed to the LORD and said, "Lord, isn't this exactly what I thought would happen when I was still at home? That's why I was so quick to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. You are a God who takes pity on people. You don't want to destroy them.

3 Lord, take away my life. I'd rather die than live."

4 But the LORD replied, "Do you have any right to be angry?"

5 Jonah left the city. He sat down at a place east of it. There he put some branches over his head. He sat in their shade. He waited to see what would happen to the city.

6 Then the LORD God sent a vine and made it grow up over Jonah. It gave him more shade for his head. It made him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy he had the vine.

7 But before sunrise the next day, God sent a worm. It chewed the vine so much that it dried up.

8 When the sun rose, God sent a burning east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah's head. It made him very weak. He wanted to die. So he said, "I'd rather die than live."

9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have any right to be angry about what happened to the vine?" "I do," he said. "In fact, I'm angry enough to die."

10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine. But you did not take care of it. You did not make it grow. It grew up in one night and died the next.

11 Nineveh has more than 120,000 people. They can't tell right from wrong. Nineveh also has a lot of cattle. So shouldn't I show concern for that great city?"