Study Desk

The Lord changed his mind again and said, "This will not take place either."

I had another vision from the Lord . In it I saw him standing beside a wall that had been built with the use of a plumb line, and there was a plumb line in his hand.

Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, then sent a report to King Jeroboam of Israel: "Amos is plotting against you among the people. His speeches will destroy the country.

But the Lord took me from my work as a shepherd and ordered me to come and prophesy to his people Israel.

We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

The Lord builds his home in the heavens, and over the earth he puts the dome of the sky. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth. His name is the Lord !

This is the prophecy of Obadiah—what the Sovereign Lord said about the nation of Edom. The Lord has sent his messenger to the nations, and we have heard his message: "Get ready! Let us go to war against Edom!"

Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the Lord . He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the Lord .

The sailors were terrified and cried out for help, each one to his own god. Then, in order to lessen the danger, they threw the cargo overboard. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone below and was lying in the ship's hold, sound asleep.

From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God:

When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes.

He sent out a proclamation to the people of Nineveh: "This is an order from the king and his officials: No one is to eat anything; all persons, cattle, and sheep are forbidden to eat or drink.

Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!"

God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.

After the sun had risen, God sent a hot east wind, and Jonah was about to faint from the heat of the sun beating down on his head. So he wished he were dead. "I am better off dead than alive," he said.

Hear this, all you nations; listen to this, all who live on earth! The Sovereign Lord will testify against you. Listen! He speaks from his heavenly temple.

The Lord is coming from his holy place; he will come down and walk on the tops of the mountains.

Do you think the people of Israel are under a curse? Has the Lord lost his patience? Would he really do such things? Doesn't he speak kindly to those who do right?"

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.

and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the Lord , to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord 's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people."