Study Desk

While Jonah was in the stomach of the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God. He said,

When the king of Nineveh heard about this, he left his throne, removed his robe, put on special clothes to show that he was sorry, and sat in ashes.

The king wrote a special message and sent it throughout the city: A command from the king and his great rulers: For a short time no person or animal should eat anything. No herd or flock will be allowed in the fields. Nothing living in Nineveh will eat or drink water.

Who knows? Maybe God will stop being angry and change his mind, and we will not be punished.

God saw what the people did. He saw that they stopped doing evil. So God changed his mind and did not do what he planned. He did not punish the people.

Listen, all you people! Earth and everyone on it, listen! The Lord God will be a witness against you. The Lord will come from his holy temple.

See, the Lord is leaving his place to come down and walk on the high places of the earth.

They want fields, so they take them. They want houses, so they take them. They cheat a man and take his house and his land.

But people of Jacob, I must say these things. The Lord is losing his patience because of the bad things you did. If you lived right, I could say nice words to you.

The "One Who Breaks Through Walls" will push through and walk to the front of his people. They will break through the gates and leave that city. They will leave with their king marching before them— with the Lord at the front of his people.

Then you will pray to the Lord , but he will not answer you. No, he will hide his face from you, because what you do is evil."

But the Lord 's Spirit has filled me with power, goodness, and strength. So I can tell Jacob about his crimes, and so I can tell Israel about his sins!

People from many nations will go there and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the Temple of the God of Jacob. Then God will teach us his way of living, and we will follow him." His teaching, the Lord 's message, will begin in Jerusalem on Mount Zion and will go out to all the world.

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are the smallest town in Judah. Your family is almost too small to count, but the "Ruler of Israel" will come from you to rule for me. His beginnings are from ancient times, from long, long ago.

The Lord will let his people be defeated until the woman gives birth to her child, the promised king. Then the rest of his brothers will come back to join the people of Israel.

He will begin to rule Israel in the power of the Lord . Like a shepherd, he will lead his people in the wonderful name of the Lord his God. And they will live in safety because then his greatness will be known all over the world.

The Lord has a complaint against his people. Mountains, listen to the Lord 's complaint. Foundations of the earth, hear the Lord. He will prove that Israel is wrong!"

Your enemies will be the people in your own house. A son will not honor his father. A daughter will turn against her mother. A daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law.

There is no God like you. You take away people's guilt. God will forgive his people who survive. He will not stay angry with them forever, because he enjoys being kind.

The Lord is a jealous God. The Lord punishes the guilty, and he is very angry. The Lord punishes his enemies, and he stays angry with them.