Jonah 1-4
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it; for the cry of her wickedness has come up to me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, paid his fare, and boarded the ship to set sail with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord raised up a great wind upon the sea, and there came about a mighty tempest, and the ship was in danger of breaking up. 5 And the mariners were afraid and cried out, each one to his god. And they cast out the cargo of the ship into the sea, attempting to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, had gone to sleep, and was snoring.
6 The captain came to him and said, “Why are you snoring? Get up and call upon your God, that your God may keep us safe so we do not perish.” 7 And each one said to his shipmate, “Come! Let us cast lots and find out on whose account this calamity is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, what is your occupation? Where do you come from and from what country and people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a servant of the Lord, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you did?” For the men knew he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea will calm itself for us?” For the sea continued to be tempestuous, and the waves rose up even higher. 12 And Jonah said to them, “Take me up and cast me into the sea, and the sea will grow calm for you, for I know this great tempest is upon you because of me.”
13 And the men tried hard to return to the land, but were unable to do so, for the sea arose and grew even more tempestuous against them. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord and said, “Please, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, nor bring righteous blood upon us; for you, O Lord, have brought this about.” 15 So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 And the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and vowed vows.
Jonah’s Song of Thanksgiving
1 Now the Lord commanded a huge sea creature to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the sea creature three days and three nights. 2 And from the belly of the sea creature, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God, 3 and said:
“I cried out in my affliction to the Lord, my God,
And He heard my voice;
Out of the belly of Hades, You heard the cry of my voice.
4 You cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea,
And rivers encompassed me;
All Your surging waters and Your waves passed over me.
5 And I said, ‘I have been driven away from Your sight;
Shall I again look with favor toward Your holy temple?’
6 Water is poured over me to my soul;
The lowest depth encircled me;
My head plunged into the clefts of the mountains.
7 I descended into the earth,
The bars of which are everlasting barriers;
Yet let my life ascend from corruption, O Lord, my God.
8 When my soul was failing from me, I remembered the Lord.
May my prayer be brought to You, into Your holy temple.
9 Those who follow vanity and lies forsake their own mercy.
10 But with a voice of thanksgiving and praise,
I will sacrifice to You.
As much as I vowed, I shall offer up to You,
To You, the Lord of Deliverance.”
11 Then the Lord commanded the sea creature, and it cast up Jonah onto the dry land.
The Repentance of Nineveh
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Arise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach there according to the message I previously spoke to you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, just as the Lord spoke. Nineveh was an exceedingly great city to God, a journey of about three days. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city, going a day’s journey, where he proclaimed and said, “Yet three days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
5 And the men of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. 6 Then the word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, and put on sackcloth, and sat upon ashes. 7 And it was proclaimed and spoken in Nineveh by the king and by his great men, saying, “Let not the men, cattle, oxen, or sheep taste anything, eat, or drink water.” 8 So the men and the cattle were clothed with sackcloth, and they cried out fervently to God; and they each turned back from their evil ways and from the wrongdoings of their hands, saying, 9 “Who knows if God shall have a change of heart and turn from His fierce anger, that we should not perish?” 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways. And God had a change of heart about the evil which He said He would do to them, and He did not do it.
Jonah Is Grieved by the Lord’s Compassion
1 But Jonah was deeply grieved and was troubled. 2 So he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, were these not my words when I was yet in my land? Therefore I saw the need to flee to Tarshish; because I knew You to be compassionate and merciful, longsuffering and abundant in mercy, and willing to change your heart concerning evils. 3 And now, Master, Lord, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 And the Lord said to Jonah, “Are you exceedingly grieved?” 5 Then Jonah went out of the city and seated himself opposite it. There he made for himself a tent and sat under its shade, until he might observe what would happen to the city. 6 And the Lord God commanded a gourd, and it came up over the head of Jonah to be a shade over his head, to shield him from his discomforts. Jonah rejoiced with great joy because of the gourd. 7 But early the next morning, God commanded a worm, and it smote the gourd, and the gourd withered up. 8 And when the sun rose, God commanded a burning east wind; and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah, and he grew faint and despaired of his life. And he said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 Then God said to Jonah, “Are you exceedingly grieved on account of the gourd?” And he said, “I am exceedingly grieved, even unto death.” 10 And the Lord said, “You took pity on the gourd, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came up during the night and perished before the next night. 11 And shall I Myself not take pity upon Nineveh, the great city, in which dwell more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know either their right hand or their left—and many livestock?”
Psalm 92
1 For the day before the Sabbath, when the earth was settled; the praise of an ode by David.
The Lord reigns; He clothed Himself with majesty;
The Lord clothed and girded Himself with power;
And He established the world, which shall not be moved.
2 Your throne is prepared from of old;
You are from everlasting.
3 The rivers, O Lord, lift up;
The rivers lift up their voices;
4 Because of the voices of their many waters,
Marvelous are the billows of the sea;
Wondrous is the Lord on high.
5 Your testimonies are very much believed;
Holiness is proper to Your house, O Lord,
Unto length of days.
Proverbs 20:1–5
1 Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink is full of violence;
And all who commingle with it will not be wise.
2 The threat of a king does not differ from the anger of a lion,
And he who provokes him sins against his own soul.
3 It is glory for a man to turn away from reproaches,
But every man without discernment is entangled with such things.
4 A lazy man who is reproached feels no shame;
Likewise also is he who borrows bread in harvest.
5 Counsel is deep water in the heart of a man,
And a man with discernment will draw it out.
2 Thessalonians 2
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Fast
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.