Beginning
Obadiah
1 1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God against Edom, [a]We have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen: arise, and [b]let us rise up against her to battle.
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art utterly despised.
3 The [c]pride of thine heart hath deceived thee: thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rocks, whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and make thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
5 [d]Came thieves to thee or robbers by night? how wast thou brought to silence? would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
6 How are the things of Esau sought up, and his treasures searched?
7 All the men of thy confederacy [e]have driven thee to the borders: the men that were at peace with thee, have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee: they that eat thy [f]bread, have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
8 Shall not I in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding from the mount of Esau?
9 And thy strong men, O Teman, shall be afraid, because everyone of the mount of Esau shall be cut off by slaughter.
10 For thy cruelty against thy [g]brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever.
11 When thou stoodest [h]on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away his substance, and strangers entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
12 But thou shouldest not have beholden the day of thy brother, in the day that he was made [i]a stranger, neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah, in the day of their destruction: thou shouldest not have spoken proudly in the day of affliction.
13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their destruction, neither shouldest thou have once looked on their affliction in the day of their destruction, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their destruction.
14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossways to cut off them, that should escape, neither shouldest thou have shut up the remnant thereof in the day of affliction.
15 For the day [j]of the Lord is near, upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done to thee: thy reward shall return upon thine head.
16 For as ye have [k]drunk upon mine holy Mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually: yea, they shall drink and swallow up, and they shall be [l]as though they had not been.
17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions,
18 And the house of Jacob shall be [m]a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau as stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them: and there shall be no remnant of the house of Esau: for the Lord hath spoken it.
19 And they shall possess the South side of the [n]mount of Esau, and the plain of the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and Benjamin shall have Gilead.
20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, which were among the [o]Canaanites, shall possess unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.
21 And they [p]that shall save, shall come up to mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
Jonah
1 3 Jonah fled when he was sent to preach. 4 A tempest ariseth, and he is cast into the sea for his disobedience.
1 The word of the Lord came [a]also unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, and go to [b]Nineveh, that [c]great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to [d]flee into Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord, and went down to [e]Japho: and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, that he might go with them unto Tarshish, from the [f]presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast the wares that were in the ship, into the sea, to lighten it of them: but Jonah was gone down [g]into the sides of the ship, and he lay down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy [h]God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
7 And they said everyone to his fellow, Come, and let us cast [i]lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us for whose cause this evil is upon us? What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? which is thy country? and of what people art thou?
9 And he answered them, I am an Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, which hath made the sea, and the dry land.
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? (for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them)
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? (for the sea wrought, and was troublous)
12 And he said unto them, Take me, and cast me into the sea: so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed to bring it to the land, but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was troublous against them.
14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, [j]We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men [k]feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah: and Jonah was in the [l]belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2 1 Jonah is in the fish’s belly. 2 His prayer. 10 He is delivered.
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God [m]out of the fish’s belly,
2 And said, I cried in mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me: out of the belly [n]of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the bottom in the midst of the sea, and the floods compassed me about: all thy surges, and all thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am [o]cast away out of thy sight: yet will I look again toward thine holy Temple.
5 The waters compassed me about unto the soul: the depth closed me round about, and the weeds were wrapped about mine head.
6 I went down to the bottom of the mountains: the earth with her bars was about me forever, yet hast thou brought up my [p]life from the pit, O Lord my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came unto thee into thine holy Temple.
8 They that wait upon lying [q]vanities, forsake their own [r]mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving, and will pay that that I have vowed: salvation is of the Lord.
10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it cast out Jonah upon the dry land.
3 1 Jonah is sent again to Ninevah. 5 The repentance of the king of Ninevah.
1 And the word of the Lord came unto [s]Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh that great city, and preach unto it the preaching which I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord: now Nineveh was a [t]great and excellent city of three days journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s [u]journey, and he cried and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh [v]believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them, even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he proclaimed and said through Nineveh, (by the counsel of the king and his nobles) saying, Let neither man, nor [w]beast, bullock nor sheep taste anything, neither feed nor drink water.
8 But let man and beast put on sackcloth, and [x]cry mightily unto God: yea, let every man turn from his evil way, and from the wickedness that is in their hands.
9 [y]Who can tell if God will turn, and repent and turn away from his fierce wrath, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their [z]works that they turned from their evil ways: and [aa]God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not.
4 The great goodness of God toward his creatures.
1 Therefore it displeased [ab]Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? therefore I prevented it to flee unto [ac]Tarshish: for I knew, that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life [ad]from me: for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be [ae]angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the East side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow [af]till he might see what should be done in the city.
6 And the Lord God prepared a [ag]gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, and deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.
8 And when the sun did arise, God prepared also a fervent East wind: and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted and wished in his heart to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 And God said unto Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be [ah]angry unto the death.
10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night,
11 And should [ai]not I spare Nineveh that great city, wherein are sixscore thousand persons, that [aj]cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.