Study Desk

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

So the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

So Jonah went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk [about sixty miles in circumference].

"Who knows, God may turn [in compassion] and relent and withdraw His burning anger (judgment) so that we will not perish."

Then Jonah went out of the city and sat east of it. There he made himself a shelter and sat under its shade so that he could see what would happen in the city.

So the LORD God prepared a plant and it grew up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head to spare him from discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about [the protection of] the plant.

When the sun came up God prepared a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he fainted and he wished to die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

'Do not speak out,' so they speak out. But if they do not speak out concerning these things, Reproaches will not be turned back.

"The breaker [the Messiah, who opens the way] shall go up before them [liberating them]. They will break out, pass through the gate and go out; So their King goes on before them, The LORD at their head."

And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for strong and distant nations. Then they shall hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks [so that the implements of war may become the tools of agriculture]; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Nor shall they ever again train for war.

"I will also cut off your carved images And your sacred pillars from among you, So that you will no longer worship and bow down To the work of your hands.

"My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab devised [with his evil plan against Israel] And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him [turning the curse into blessing for Israel], [Remember what the LORD did for you] from Shittim to Gilgal, So that you may know the righteous and saving acts [displaying the power] of the LORD."

"So also I will make you sick, striking you down, Desolating and devastating you, because of your sins.

Concerning evil, both of their hands pursue it and do it diligently and thoroughly; The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe, And a great man speaks the [evil] desire of his soul. So they twist the course of justice between them.

This is what the LORD says, "Though they are at full strength and many in number, Even so, they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you and caused you grief [O Jerusalem], I will afflict you no longer.

The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, And drag them away with a net, And gather them together in their fishing net; So they rejoice and are glad.

Then the LORD answered me and said, "Write the vision And engrave it plainly on [clay] tablets So that the one who reads it will run.

"Moreover, wine is treacherous and betrays the arrogant man, So that he does not stay at home. His appetite is large like Sheol, And he is like death, never satisfied. He gathers to himself all nations And collects to himself all peoples [as if he owned them].

"Woe (judgment is coming) to him who obtains wicked gain for his house [and thinks by so doing] To set his nest on high, That he may be rescued from the hand of evil.

"You have devised a shameful thing for your house By cutting off and putting an end to many peoples; So you are sinning against your own life and forfeiting it.