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First Reading: Jonah Chapter 1 and 2 and 3 and 4
Jonah 1
1:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great
city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before
me."
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to
Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he
went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose
that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each
cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the
ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
6 The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call
on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."
7 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find
out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell
on Jonah.
8 So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble
for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what
people are you?"
9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the land."
10 This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They
knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)
11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should
we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"
12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it
will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come
upon you."
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not,
for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried to the LORD, "O
LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable
for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased."
15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to
the LORD and made vows to him.
17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside
the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2
2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said:
"In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths
of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me
into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about
me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, 'I have been banished
from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' 5 The engulfing
waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my
head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred
me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.
7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer
rose to you, to your holy temple.
8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed
I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah 3
3:1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 "Go to the
great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very
important city-a visit required three days. 4 On the first day, Jonah started
into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."
5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the
greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off
his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7
Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:
"By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them
eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone
call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9
Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger
so that we will not perish."
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had
compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
Jonah 4
4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD,
"O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why
I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate
God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"
5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself
a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.
6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade
for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.
7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that
it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the
sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said,
"It would be better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."
10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though
you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot
tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not
be concerned about that great city?"
Psalms 98
98:1 A psalm.
Sing to the LORD a new song,for he has done marvelous things;his right hand
and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The LORD has made his salvation
known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. 3 He has remembered his
love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;all the ends of the earth have
seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the LORD with the harp,with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn shout for joy before
the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,let the mountains sing together for joy; 9
let them sing before the LORD,for he comes to judge the earth.He will judge
the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.
Bible Background
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
JONAH
Jonah is not identified as a prophet but was given a commissioner by God: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." In this short book is the story of Jonah running away, being tossed in the sea, being swallowed by a large fish and then being vomited up on land. Jonah does carry God's message to the city of Nineveh whose citizens repent and are spared. God's concern for this people is recorded in the last verse of the book:
" But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
This book was written around 775 B.C. About 150 years later the prophet Nahum prophesies the destruction of Nineveh and the Assyrians because of their wickedness. During that 150 years the Assyrians had taken Israel captive and had threatened Judah.
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