Then Yahweh said to me,
"The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pa.s.s by them any more. 8:3 The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the Lord Yahweh. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence. 8:4 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, 8:5 Saying, "When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; 8:6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?"" 8:7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8:8 Won"t the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt. 8:9 It will happen in that day," says the Lord Yahweh, "that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. 8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day. 8:11 Behold, the days come,"
says the Lord Yahweh, "that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh. 8:12 They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of Yahweh, and will not find it. 8:13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst. 8:14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, "As your G.o.d, Dan, lives;" and, "As the way of Beersheba lives;" they will fall, and never rise up again." 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. 9:2 Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. 9:3 Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them. 9:4 Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good. 9:5 For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt. 9:6 It is he who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name. 9:7 Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?" says Yahweh. "Haven"t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," says Yahweh. 9:9 "For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth. 9:10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, "Evil won"t overtake nor meet us." 9:11 In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; 9:12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name," says Yahweh who does this.
9:13 "Behold, the days come," says Yahweh, "that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills. 9:14 I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 9:15 I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says Yahweh your G.o.d.
Obadiah
1:1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom.
We have heard news from Yahweh, and an amba.s.sador is sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let"s rise up against her in battle. 1:2 Behold, I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, "Who will bring me down to the ground?" 1:4 Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there," says Yahweh. 1:5 "If thieves came to you, if robbers by night--oh, what disaster awaits you--wouldn"t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn"t they leave some gleaning grapes? 1:6 How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out! 1:7 All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him."
1:8 "Won"t I in that day," says Yahweh, "destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mountain of Esau? 1:9 Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. 1:10 For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever. 1:11 In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them.
1:12 But don"t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don"t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don"t speak proudly in the day of distress. 1:13 Don"t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don"t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity. 1:14 Don"t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don"t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress. 1:15 For the day of Yahweh is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head. 1:16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so will all the nations drink continually. Yes, they will drink, swallow down, and will be as though they had not been. 1:17 But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions. 1:18 The house of Jacob will be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble. They will burn among them, and devour them. There will not be any remaining to the house of Esau." Indeed, Yahweh has spoken.
1:19 Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead. 1:20 The captives of this army of the children of Israel, who are among the Canaanites, will possess even to Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the Negev.
1:21 Saviors will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh"s.
Jonah
1:1 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 1:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me."
1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.
He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. 1:4 But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up. 1:5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man to his G.o.d. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep. 1:6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your G.o.d!
Maybe your G.o.d will notice us, so that we won"t perish."
1:7 They all said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is on us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 1:8 Then they asked him, "Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?"
1:9 He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the G.o.d of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land."
1:10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them. 1:11 Then said they to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?" For the sea grew more and more stormy. 1:12 He said to them, "Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you."
1:13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. 1:14 Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, "We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, let us not perish for this man"s life, and don"t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you." 1:15 So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.
1:16 Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.
1:17 Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2:1 Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his G.o.d, out of the fish"s belly. 2:2 He said,
"I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. 2:3 For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows pa.s.sed over me. 2:4 I said, "I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple." 2:5 The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. 2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my G.o.d. 2:7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple. 2:8 Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 2:9 But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh." 2:10 Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.
3:1 The word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying, 3:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you."
3:3 So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days" journey across. 3:4 Jonah began to enter into the city a day"s journey, and he cried out, and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
3:5 The people of Nineveh believed G.o.d; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
3:6 The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 3:7 He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his n.o.bles, saying, "Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; 3:8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to G.o.d. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. 3:9 Who knows whether G.o.d will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?"
3:10 G.o.d saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. G.o.d relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn"t do it.
4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 4:2 He prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please, Yahweh, wasn"t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious G.o.d, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm. 4:3 Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live."
4:4 Yahweh said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
4:5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city. 4:6 Yahweh G.o.d prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine. 4:7 But G.o.d prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered. 4:8 It happened, when the sun arose, that G.o.d prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah"s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."
4:9 G.o.d said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?"
He said, "I am right to be angry, even to death."
4:10 Yahweh said, "You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. 4:11 Shouldn"t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can"t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?"
Notes:
[1] back to 1:6 or, G.o.ds
[2] back to 1:6 or, G.o.ds
Micah
1:1 The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morasht.i.te in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
1:2 Hear, you peoples, all of you. Listen, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 1:3 For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. 1:4 The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place. 1:5 "All this is for the disobedience of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the disobedience of Jacob? Isn"t it Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Aren"t they Jerusalem? 1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations. 1:7 All her idols will be beaten to pieces, and all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and all her images I will destroy; for of the hire of a prost.i.tute has she gathered them, and to the hire of a prost.i.tute shall they return." 1:8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will howl like the jackals, and moan like the daughters of owls. 1:9 For her wounds are incurable; for it has come even to Judah. It reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. 1:10 Don"t tell it in Gath. Don"t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust. 1:11 Pa.s.s on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan won"t come out. The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection. 1:12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously for good, because evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem. 1:13 Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; For the transgressions of Israel were found in you. 1:14 Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath. The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel. 1:15 I will yet bring to you, inhabitant of Mareshah.
He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam. 1:16 Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture; for they have gone into captivity from you! 2:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds!