The Day of the Lord Is Near

15  For wthe day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.

xAs you have done, it shall be done to you;

your deeds shall return on your own head.

16  yFor as you have drunk on zmy holy mountain,

so all the nations shall drink continually;

they shall drink and swallow,

and shall be as though they had never been.

17  aBut in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,

and it shall be holy,

band the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.

18  cThe house of Jacob shall be a fire,

and the house of Joseph a flame,

and the house of Esau dstubble;

they shall burn them and consume them,

eand there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,

for the Lord has spoken.

The Kingdom of the Lord

19  Those of fthe Negeb bshall possess gMount Esau,

and those of the Shephelah shall possess hthe land of the Philistines;

they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of iSamaria,

and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20  The exiles of this host of the people of Israel

shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as jZarephath,

and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

shall possess the cities of the Negeb.

21  kSaviors shall go up to Mount Zion

to rule gMount Esau,

and lthe kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Jonah

Introduction

Because it tells of a fish swallowing a man, many have dismissed the book of Jonah as fiction. But 2 Kings 14:25 mentions Jonah as living during the time of Jeroboam II (about 793–753 b.c.), and Jesus referred to Jonah as a historical person (Matt. 12:39–41). Unlike other prophetic books, Jonah focuses on the prophet himself rather than on his message. When God sent Jonah to Nineveh he rebelled, was swallowed by a fish, repented, and fulfilled his mission after all. When Nineveh repented, the reason for Jonah’s rebellion became clear: he had feared that God would forgive the Ninevites; and when God did forgive them, Jonah resented it (4:1–3). The book lists no author, but only Jonah himself could have known all the facts it records.

Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord

1 Now the word of the Lord came to aJonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to bNineveh, that cgreat city, and call out against it, dfor their evil1 has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah erose to flee to fTarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to gJoppa and found a ship going to fTarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to fTarshish, haway from the presence of the Lord.

4 But ithe Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened jto break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and keach cried out to his god. And lthey hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, kcall out to your god! mPerhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea

7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us ncast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear othe Lord, the God of heaven, pwho made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that hhe was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, qfor I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard2 to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and rlay not on us innocent blood, sfor you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, tand the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, uand they offered a sacrifice to the Lord vand made vows.

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

17 3 And the Lord appointed4 a great fish to swallow up Jonah. wAnd Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.