Study Desk

Jonah said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you."

Then they called on the LORD and said, "Please, O LORD, do not let us perish because of taking this man's life, and do not make us accountable for innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as You pleased."

and said, "I called out of my trouble and distress to the LORD, And He answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help, And You heard my voice.

"For You cast me into the deep, Into the [deep] heart of the seas, And the currents surrounded and engulfed me; All Your breakers and billowing waves passed over me.

"But [as for me], I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I shall pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!"

"Therefore now, O LORD, just take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

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."

Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.

"Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 [innocent] persons, who do not know the difference between their right and left hand [and are not yet accountable for sin], as well as many [blameless] animals?"

For behold, the LORD is coming down from His place He shall come down and tread [in judgment] on the high places of the earth.

All this is because of the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom). What is the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob? Is it not [the abandonment of God in order to worship the idols of] Samaria? What are the high places [of idolatry] in Judah (the Southern Kingdom)? Are they not Jerusalem [the capital and center of corruption]?

Therefore I [the LORD] shall make Samaria a heap of ruins [and of stones and arable land] in the open country, A place for planting vineyards; And I will pour her stones down into the ravine And lay bare her foundations.

All her idols shall be broken in pieces, All her earnings [from her idolatry] shall be burned with fire, And all her images I shall make desolate; For from the earnings of a prostitute she collected them, And to the earnings of a prostitute they shall return.

For Samaria's wound is incurable, For it has come to Judah; The enemy has reached the gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem.

For the inhabitant of Maroth (Bitterness) Writhes in pain [at its losses] and waits anxiously for good, Because a catastrophe has come down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem.

Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hair For the children of your delight; Remain as bald as the eagle, For your children will be taken from you into exile.

Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am planning against this family a disaster (exile) [Like a noose] from which you cannot remove your necks; Nor will you be able to walk haughtily and erect, For it will be an evil time [of subjugation to the invaders].

"Therefore, you will have no one stretching a measuring line [dividing the common land] For you by lot in the assembly of the LORD.

"Arise and depart [because the captivity is inevitable], For this [land] is not the place of rest Because of the defilement that brings destruction, A painful and terrible destruction.

And I said, "Hear now, heads of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know and administer justice?