Study Desk

The sailors were so afraid that each cried out to his own god and they flung the ship's cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold below deck, had lain down, and was sound asleep.

The ship's captain approached him and said, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!"

The sailors said to one another, "Come on, let's cast lots to find out whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us." So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out.

Instead, they tried to row back to land, but they were not able to do so because the storm kept growing worse and worse.

So they cried out to the Lord , "Oh, please, Lord , don't let us die on account of this man! Don't hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. After all, you, Lord , have done just as you pleased."

So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging.

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city—it required three days to walk through it!)

Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die."

So now, Lord , kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!"

The Lord said, "Are you really so very angry?"

So God sent a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the little plant so that it dried up.

When the sun began to shine, God sent a hot east wind. So the sun beat down on Jonah's head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, and said, "I would rather die than live!"

God said to Jonah, "Are you really so very angry about the little plant?" And he said, "I am as angry as I could possibly be!"

Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, because they have the power to do so.

I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob, I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in the middle of a pasture; they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise.

Many nations will come, saying, "Come on! Let's go up to the Lord 's mountain, to the temple of Jacob's God, so he can teach us his commands and we can live by his laws." For Zion will be the source of instruction; the Lord 's teachings will proceed from Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, why are you now shouting so loudly? Has your king disappeared? Has your wise leader been destroyed? Is this why pain grips you as if you were a woman in labor?

Many nations have now assembled against you. They say, "Jerusalem must be desecrated, so we can gloat over Zion!"

So the Lord will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth. Then the rest of the king's countrymen will return to be reunited with the people of Israel.

My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, how Balaam son of Beor responded to him. Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal, so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly."