Study Desk

But God said to him, "What right do you have to be angry about the plant?" Jonah replied, "I have every right to be angry—angry enough to die!"

The Lord replies, "You attack my people like enemies. Men return from battle, thinking they are safe at home, but there you are, waiting to steal the coats off their backs.

"But I will gather you together, all you people of Israel that are left. I will bring you together like sheep returning to the fold. Like a pasture full of sheep, your land will once again be filled with many people."

The time is coming when you will cry out to the Lord , but he will not answer you. He will not listen to your prayers, for you have done evil.

My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threaten war for those who don't. To these prophets the Lord says,

But as for me, the Lord fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.

Each nation worships and obeys its own god, but we will worship and obey the Lord our God forever and ever.

They are crippled and far from home, but I will make a new beginning with those who are left, and they will become a great nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion from that time on and forever."

Twist and groan, people of Jerusalem, like a woman giving birth, for now you will have to leave the city and live in the open country. You will have to go to Babylon, but there the Lord will save you from your enemies.

But these nations do not know what is in the Lord 's mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that grain is brought in to be threshed.

The Lord says, "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times."

You will eat, but not be satisfied—in fact you will still be hungry. You will carry things off, but you will not be able to save them; anything you do save I will destroy in war.

You will sow grain, but not harvest the crop. You will press oil from olives, but never get to use it. You will make wine, but never drink it.

But I will watch for the Lord ; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me.

Our enemies have no reason to gloat over us. We have fallen, but we will rise again. We are in darkness now, but the Lord will give us light.

We have sinned against the Lord , so now we must endure his anger for a while. But in the end he will defend us and right the wrongs that have been done to us. He will bring us out to the light; we will live to see him save us.

But the earth will become a desert because of the wickedness of those who live on it.

There is no other god like you, O Lord ; you forgive the sins of your people who have survived. You do not stay angry forever, but you take pleasure in showing us your constant love.

The Lord does not easily become angry, but he is powerful and never lets the guilty go unpunished. Where the Lord walks, storms arise; the clouds are the dust raised by his feet!

This is what the Lord says to his people Israel: "Even though the Assyrians are strong and numerous, they will be destroyed and disappear. My people, I made you suffer, but I will not do it again.