Jonah 1 - Habakkuk 3
English Standard Version
Jonah Flees the Presence of the Lord
1 Now the word of the Lord came to (A)Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (B)Nineveh, that (C)great city, and call out against it, (D)for their evil[a] has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah (E)rose to flee to (F)Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to (G)Joppa and found a ship going to (H)Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to (I)Tarshish, (J)away from the presence of the Lord.
4 But (K)the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened (L)to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and (M)each cried out to his god. And (N)they 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, (O)call out to your god! (P)Perhaps 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 (Q)cast 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 (R)the Lord, the God of heaven, (S)who 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 (T)he 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, (U)for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard[b] 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 (V)lay not on us innocent blood, (W)for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, (X)and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, (Y)and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord (Z)and made vows.
A Great Fish Swallows Jonah
17 [c] And the Lord appointed[d] a great fish to swallow up Jonah. (AA)And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah's Prayer
2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,
(AB)“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
(AC)out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
(AD)and you heard my voice.
3 (AE)For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
(AF)all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 (AG)Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
(AH)yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
5 (AI)The waters closed in over me (AJ)to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6 at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
(AK)and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 (AL)Those who pay regard to vain idols
(AM)forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 (AN)But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
(AO)Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (AP)Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now (AQ)Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,[e] three days' journey in breadth.[f] 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 (AR)And the people of Nineveh believed God. (AS)They called for a fast and (AT)put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
The People of Nineveh Repent
6 The word reached[g] the king of Nineveh, and (AU)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, (AV)and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, (AW)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor (AX)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and (AY)beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. (AZ)Let everyone turn from his evil way and from (BA)the violence that is in his hands. 9 (BB)Who knows? God may turn and relent (BC)and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, (BD)how they turned from their evil way, (BE)God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[h] and (BF)he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? (BG)That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a (BH)gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and (BI)relenting from disaster. 3 (BJ)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, (BK)for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, (BL)“Do you do well to be angry?”
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and (BM)made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant[i] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[j] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching (BN)east wind, (BO)and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he (BP)was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, (BQ)“It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, (BR)“Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity (BS)Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much (BT)cattle?”
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah (BU)of Moresheth (BV)in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw (BW)concerning (BX)Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Destruction
2 (BY)Hear, you peoples, all of you;[k]
(BZ)pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and (CA)let the Lord God be a witness against you,
(CB)the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, (CC)the Lord is coming out of (CD)his place,
and will come down and (CE)tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And (CF)the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for (CG)the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
(CH)What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not (CI)Samaria?
And what is (CJ)the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make (CK)Samaria (CL)a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones (CM)into the valley
and (CN)uncover her foundations.
7 All (CO)her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
(CP)all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from (CQ)the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
8 (CR)For this I will lament and wail;
I will go (CS)stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation (CT)like the jackals,
and mourning (CU)like the ostriches.
9 (CV)For her wound is incurable,
and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem.
10 (CW)Tell it not in (CX)Gath;
weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
(CY)roll yourselves in the dust.
11 Pass on your way,
inhabitants of Shaphir,
(CZ)in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
shall take away from you its standing place.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down (DA)from the Lord
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
inhabitants of (DB)Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
(DC)the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts[l]
to (DD)Moresheth-gath;
the houses of (DE)Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring (DF)a conqueror to you,
inhabitants of (DG)Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
shall come to (DH)Adullam.
16 (DI)Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
(DJ)make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.
Woe to the Oppressors
2 (DK)Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil (DL)on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and (DM)seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against (DN)this family I am devising disaster,[m]
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you (DO)shall not walk haughtily,
(DP)for it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day (DQ)they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
(DR)he changes the portion of my people;
(DS)how he removes it from me!
(DT)To an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none (DU)to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
6 (DV)“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
(DW)“one should not preach of such things;
(DX)disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
(DY)Has the Lord grown impatient?[n]
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately (DZ)my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.[o]
9 The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
10 (EA)Arise and go,
for this is no (EB)place to rest,
because of (EC)uncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man should go about and (ED)utter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you (EE)of wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
(EF)I will gather (EG)the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
(EH)like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
13 (EI)He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
(EJ)going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
(EK)the Lord at their head.
Rulers and Prophets Denounced
3 And I said:
(EL)Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
(EM)Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you (EN)who hate the good and love the evil,
(EO)who tear the skin from off my people[p]
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 (EP)who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
4 (EQ)Then they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
(ER)he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the Lord concerning (ES)the prophets
who lead my people astray,
(ET)who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
who puts nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore (EU)it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
(EV)The sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7 (EW)the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
(EX)they shall all cover their lips,
for (EY)there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, (EZ)I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob (FA)his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9 (FB)Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
(FC)who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
10 (FD)who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 (FE)Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
(FF)its priests teach for a price;
(FG)its prophets practice divination for money;
(FH)yet they lean on the Lord and (FI)say,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
(FJ)No disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
(FK)Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem (FL)shall become a heap of ruins,
and (FM)the mountain of the house (FN)a wooded height.
The Mountain of the Lord
4 It shall come to pass (FO)in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[q]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall (FP)beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 (FQ)but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
(FR)and no one shall make them afraid,
(FS)for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For (FT)all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but (FU)we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.
The Lord Shall Rescue Zion
6 (FV)In that day, declares the Lord,
(FW)I will assemble the (FX)lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
7 and the lame I will make (FY)the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and (FZ)the Lord will reign over them (GA)in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.
8 And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry aloud?
(GB)Is there no king in you?
(GC)Has your counselor perished,
that (GD)pain seized you like a woman in labor?
10 (GE)Writhe and groan,[r] O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for (GF)now you shall go out from the city
and dwell in the open country;
you (GG)shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
(GH)there the Lord will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
11 Now (GI)many nations
are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
and (GJ)let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12 But (GK)they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that (GL)he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh,
O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
and (GM)shall devote[s] (GN)their gain to the Lord,
their wealth to (GO)the Lord of the whole earth.
The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
5 [t] Now muster your troops, O daughter[u] of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod (GP)they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
2 [v] (GQ)But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of (GR)Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be (GS)ruler in Israel,
(GT)whose coming forth is (GU)from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up (GV)until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then (GW)the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand (GX)and shepherd his flock (GY)in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now (GZ)he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be (HA)their peace.
(HB)When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven (HC)shepherds
and eight princes of men;
6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of (HD)Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
(HE)when he comes into our land
and treads within our border.
A Remnant Shall Be Delivered
7 Then (HF)the remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
nor wait for the children of man.
8 And (HG)the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
(HH)which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Your hand shall (HI)be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10 And (HJ)in that day, declares the Lord,
(HK)I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots;
11 (HL)and I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds;
12 and I will cut off (HM)sorceries from your hand,
and (HN)you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
13 and (HO)I will cut off your carved images
and (HP)your pillars from among you,
(HQ)and you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands;
14 and I will root out your (HR)Asherah images from among you
(HS)and destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and wrath (HT)I will execute vengeance
on the nations that did not obey.
The Indictment of the Lord
6 (HU)Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 (HV)Hear, you mountains, (HW)the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 “O my people, (HX)what have I done to you?
(HY)How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For (HZ)I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and (IA)redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and (IB)Miriam.
5 O my people, remember (IC)what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from (ID)Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know (IE)the righteous acts of the Lord.”
What Does the Lord Require?
6 (IF)“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before (IG)God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 (IH)Will the Lord be pleased with[w] thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
(II)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and (IJ)what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,[x]
and to (IK)walk humbly with your God?
Destruction of the Wicked
9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city—
and it is sound wisdom to fear (IL)your name:
“Hear of (IM)the rod and of him who appointed it![y]
10 Can I forget any longer the treasures[z] of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit the man (IN)with wicked scales
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Your[aa] rich men are (IO)full of violence;
your inhabitants (IP)speak lies,
and (IQ)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,
(IR)making you desolate because of your sins.
14 (IS)You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not preserve,
and what you preserve I will give to the sword.
15 (IT)You shall sow, but not reap;
you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
16 For you have kept the statutes of (IU)Omri,[ab]
and all the works of the house of (IV)Ahab;
and you have walked in their counsels,
that I may make you (IW)a desolation, and your[ac] inhabitants (IX)a hissing;
so you shall bear (IY)the scorn of my people.”
Wait for the God of Salvation
7 Woe is me! For I have become
(IZ)as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
no (JA)first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
2 (JB)The godly has perished from the earth,
and (JC)there is no one upright among mankind;
(JD)they all lie in wait for blood,
and (JE)each hunts the other with a net.
3 (JF)Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
(JG)the prince and (JH)the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is (JI)like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of (JJ)your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
(JK)now their confusion is at hand.
5 (JL)Put no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard (JM)the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms;[ad]
6 for (JN)the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
(JO)a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
(JP)I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
8 (JQ)Rejoice not over me, O (JR)my enemy;
(JS)when I fall, I shall rise;
(JT)when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
9 (JU)I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until (JV)he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
(JW)He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.
10 Then (JX)my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who (JY)said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
(JZ)My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled down
(KA)like the mire of the streets.
11 (KB)A day for the building of your walls!
In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12 In that day they[ae] will come to you,
(KC)from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to (KD)the River,[af]
(KE)from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 But (KF)the earth will be desolate
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.
14 (KG)Shepherd your people (KH)with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
(KI)in the midst of (KJ)a garden land;[ag]
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
15 (KK)As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them[ah] marvelous things.
16 (KL)The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
(KM)they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
their ears shall be deaf;
17 (KN)they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth;
(KO)they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
(KP)they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
and they shall be in fear of you.
God's Steadfast Love and Compassion
18 (KQ)Who is a God like you, (KR)pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
(KS)for the remnant of his inheritance?
(KT)He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will (KU)again have compassion on us;
(KV)he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
(KW)You will cast all our[ai] sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 (KX)You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
(KY)as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old.
1 (KZ)An oracle concerning (LA)Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
God's Wrath Against Nineveh
2 (LB)The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
(LC)the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and (LD)keeps wrath for his enemies.
3 (LE)The Lord is slow to anger and (LF)great in power,
and (LG)the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
(LH)His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 (LI)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
(LJ)Bashan and (LK)Carmel wither;
the bloom of (LL)Lebanon withers.
5 (LM)The mountains quake before him;
(LN)the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
(LO)the world and all who dwell in it.
6 (LP)Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath (LQ)is poured out like fire,
and (LR)the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
7 (LS)The Lord is good,
(LT)a stronghold in the day of trouble;
(LU)he knows those who take refuge in him.
8 But (LV)with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,[aj]
and (LW)will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9 What (LX)do you plot against the Lord?
(LY)He will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10 For they are (LZ)like entangled thorns,
like drunkards as they drink;
(MA)they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
11 From you came one
(MB)who plotted evil against the Lord,
a worthless counselor.
12 Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
(MC)they will be cut down and pass away.
(MD)Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13 And now (ME)I will break his yoke from off you
and will burst your bonds apart.”
14 The Lord has given commandment about you:
(MF)“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from (MG)the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
(MH)I will make your grave, (MI)for you are vile.”
15 [ak] (MJ)Behold, upon the mountains, (MK)the feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace!
(ML)Keep your feasts, O Judah;
(MM)fulfill your vows,
(MN)for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.
The Destruction of Nineveh
2 (MO)The scatterer has come up against you.
(MP)Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle;[al]
collect all your strength.
2 For (MQ)the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and (MR)ruined their branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is red;
(MS)his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.
4 (MT)The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.
5 He remembers (MU)his officers;
(MV)they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower[am] is set up.
6 (MW)The river gates are opened;
the palace (MX)melts away;
7 its mistress[an] is (MY)stripped;[ao] she is carried off,
her slave girls (MZ)lamenting,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.
8 (NA)Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away.[ap]
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but (NB)none turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
or of the wealth of all precious things.
10 (NC)Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
(ND)Hearts melt and (NE)knees tremble;
(NF)anguish is in all loins;
(NG)all faces grow pale!
11 Where is the lions' den,
the feeding place of (NH)the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with (NI)none to disturb?
12 (NJ)The lion tore enough for his cubs
and (NK)strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.
13 (NL)Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and (NM)I will burn your[aq] chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and (NN)the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.
Woe to Nineveh
3 Woe to (NO)the bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
(NP)no end to the prey!
2 The crack of the whip, and (NQ)rumble of the wheel,
(NR)galloping horse and (NS)bounding chariot!
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and (NT)glittering spear,
(NU)hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4 And all for the countless whorings of the (NV)prostitute,
(NW)graceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5 (NX)Behold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and (NY)will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at (NZ)your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6 I will throw filth at you
and (OA)treat you with contempt
and make you (OB)a spectacle.
7 And all who look at you (OC)will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is (OD)Nineveh; (OE)who will grieve for her?”
(OF)Where shall I seek comforters for you?
8 (OG)Are you better than (OH)Thebes[ar]
that sat (OI)by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 (OJ)Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
(OK)Put and the (OL)Libyans were her[as] helpers.
10 (OM)Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
(ON)her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men (OO)lots were cast,
(OP)and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 (OQ)You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
(OR)you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are (OS)like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
(OT)are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 (OU)Draw water for the siege;
(OV)strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will (OW)devour you (OX)like the locust.
Multiply yourselves (OY)like the locust;
multiply (OZ)like the grasshopper!
16 You increased (PA)your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
(PB)The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your (PC)princes are (PD)like grasshoppers,
(PE)your scribes[at] like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds (PF)are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
(PG)your nobles slumber.
Your people (PH)are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
(PI)your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
(PJ)clap their hands over you.
For (PK)upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
1 (PL)The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk's Complaint
2 O Lord, (PM)how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you (PN)“Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 (PO)Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction (PP)and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 (PQ)So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
(PR)For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.
The Lord's Answer
5 (PS)“Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
(PT)For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, (PU)I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
(PV)who march through the breadth of the earth,
(PW)to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
(PX)their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 (PY)Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than (PZ)the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
(QA)they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come (QB)for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives (QC)like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
(QD)They laugh at every fortress,
for (QE)they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
(QF)guilty men, (QG)whose own might is their god!”
Habakkuk's Second Complaint
12 Are you not (QH)from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
(QI)We shall not die.
O Lord, (QJ)you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O (QK)Rock, have established them for reproof.
13 You who are (QL)of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
(QM)why do you idly look at traitors
and (QN)remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 (QO)He[au] brings all of them up (QP)with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 (QQ)Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,[av]
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
(QR)and mercilessly killing nations forever?
2 I will (QS)take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and (QT)look out to see (QU)what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
2 And the Lord answered me:
(QV)“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still (QW)the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, (QX)wait for it;
(QY)it will surely come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but (QZ)the righteous shall live by his faith.[aw]
5 “Moreover, wine[ax] is (RA)a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.[ay]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death (RB)he has never enough.
(RC)He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
Woe to the Chaldeans
6 Shall not all these (RD)take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,
(RE)“Woe to him (RF)who heaps up what is not his own—
for (RG)how long?—
and (RH)loads himself with pledges!”
7 (RI)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
and those awake who will make you tremble?
Then you will be spoil for them.
8 (RJ)Because you have plundered many nations,
all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
(RK)for the blood of man and (RL)violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
9 (RM)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
(RN)to (RO)set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
(RP)by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For (RQ)the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 (RR)“Woe to him (RS)who builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that (RT)peoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 (RU)For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of (RV)the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 (RW)“Woe to him (RX)who makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze (RY)at their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill (RZ)of shame instead of glory.
(SA)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
(SB)The cup in the Lord's right hand
will come around to you,
and (SC)utter shame will come upon your glory!
17 (SD)The violence (SE)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
(SF)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 (SG)“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, (SH)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes (SI)speechless idols!
19 (SJ)Woe to him (SK)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and (SL)there is no breath at all in it.
20 But (SM)the Lord is in his holy temple;
(SN)let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Habakkuk's Prayer
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2 O Lord, (SO)I have heard the report of you,
and (SP)your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years (SQ)revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
(SR)in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from (SS)Teman,
(ST)and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
4 (SU)His brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.
5 (SV)Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed (SW)at his heels.[az]
6 He stood (SX)and measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations;
then the (SY)eternal mountains (SZ)were scattered;
the everlasting hills sank low.
His were (TA)the everlasting ways.
7 I saw the tents of (TB)Cushan in affliction;
(TC)the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 (TD)Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
Was your anger against the rivers,
(TE)or your indignation against the sea,
(TF)when you rode on your horses,
(TG)on your chariot of salvation?
9 You stripped the sheath from your bow,
calling for many arrows.[ba] Selah
(TH)You split the earth with rivers.
10 (TI)The mountains saw you and writhed;
the raging waters swept on;
(TJ)the deep gave forth its voice;
(TK)it lifted its hands on high.
11 (TL)The sun and moon stood still in their place
(TM)at the light of your arrows as they sped,
at the flash of your glittering spear.
12 (TN)You marched through the earth in fury;
(TO)you threshed the nations in anger.
13 (TP)You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of (TQ)your anointed.
(TR)You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck.[bb] Selah
Footnotes
- Jonah 1:2 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jonah
- Jonah 1:13 Hebrew the men dug in [their oars]
- Jonah 1:17 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
- Jonah 1:17 Or had appointed
- Jonah 3:3 Hebrew a great city to God
- Jonah 3:3 Or a visit was a three days' journey
- Jonah 3:6 Or had reached
- Jonah 4:1 Hebrew it was exceedingly evil to Jonah
- Jonah 4:6 Hebrew qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant; also verses 7, 9, 10
- Jonah 4:6 Or his evil
- Micah 1:2 Hebrew all of them
- Micah 1:14 Or give dowry
- Micah 2:3 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context
- Micah 2:7 Hebrew Has the spirit of the Lord grown short?
- Micah 2:8 Or returning from war
- Micah 3:2 Hebrew from off them
- Micah 4:2 Or teaching
- Micah 4:10 Or push
- Micah 4:13 Hebrew devote to destruction
- Micah 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Hebrew
- Micah 5:1 That is, city
- Micah 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew
- Micah 6:7 Or Will the Lord accept
- Micah 6:8 Or steadfast love
- Micah 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Micah 6:10 Or Are there still treasures
- Micah 6:12 Hebrew whose
- Micah 6:16 Hebrew For the statutes of Omri are kept
- Micah 6:16 Hebrew its
- Micah 7:5 Hebrew bosom
- Micah 7:12 Hebrew he
- Micah 7:12 That is, the Euphrates
- Micah 7:14 Hebrew of Carmel
- Micah 7:15 Hebrew him
- Micah 7:19 Hebrew their
- Nahum 1:8 Hebrew of her place
- Nahum 1:15 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
- Nahum 2:1 Hebrew gird your loins
- Nahum 2:5 Or the mantelet
- Nahum 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered its mistress is uncertain
- Nahum 2:7 Or exiled
- Nahum 2:8 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Nahum 2:13 Hebrew her
- Nahum 3:8 Hebrew No-amon
- Nahum 3:9 Hebrew your
- Nahum 3:17 Or marshals
- Habakkuk 1:15 That is, the wicked foe
- Habakkuk 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat
- Habakkuk 2:4 Or faithfulness
- Habakkuk 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth
- Habakkuk 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain
- Habakkuk 3:5 Hebrew feet
- Habakkuk 3:9 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
- Habakkuk 3:13 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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