Beginning
Edom’s Arrogance and Ruin
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says Adonai Elohim concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from Adonai—
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
“Arise and let us rise up against her in battle.”
2 Behold, I will make you least among the nations,
you will be greatly despised.
3 The arrogance of your heart has deceived you—
living in the clefts of the rock—
his dwelling place is lofty, saying in his heart:
‘Who shall bring me down to the earth?’
4 Even if you soar like the eagle,
and even if you set your nest among the stars,
from there I will bring you down.’”
declares Adonai.
5 “If thieves came to you,
if robbers by night—
how ruined you would be!—
would they keep stealing after they had enough?
If grape-gatherers came to you,
would they not leave some gleaning?
6 How Esau will be ransacked,
and how his hidden treasures searched out!
7 All your allies will force you to the border.
The men that are at peace with you will deceive you and overpower you.
Those who eat your bread will set a trap under you.
(He has no discernment.)
8 In that day,”—declares Adonai—
“will I not destroy the wise men from Edom
and understanding from the hill country of Esau?
9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, will be shattered
—so everyone will be cut off from the hill country of Esau by slaughter.
10 “Because of your violence to your brother Jacob,
shame will cover you,
and you will be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof—
on the day that strangers carried away his wealth,
while foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem—
you were just like one of them.
12 You should not look down on your brother
on the day of his disaster,
nor should you rejoice over the children of Judah
in the day of their destruction.
You should not speak proudly
in the day of their distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of My people
In the day of their disaster.
Yes, you. Do not gloat over their misery
in the day of their disaster.
Yes, you—do not loot their wealth
in the day of their calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroad to cut down his fugitives,
and do not imprison his survivors in the day of distress.
The House of Jacob will be a Fire
15 “For the day of Adonai is near against all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you.
Your dealing will return on your own head.
16 For just as you have drunk on My holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually.
Yes, they will drink and gulp down,
and then be as though they had never existed.
17 But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance,
and it will be holy.
Then house of Jacob will dispossess
those who dispossessed them.
18 The house of Jacob will be a fire,
and the house of Joseph flame,
while the house of Esau will be straw—
they will set them on fire and consume them.
So there will be no survivors of the house of Esau.”
—for Adonai has spoken.
19 Then those of the Negev[a]
will possess the hill country of Esau,
and those of the foothills the Philistines.
Then they will possess the territory of Ephraim
and the territory of Samaria,
while Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of this army of Bnei-Yisrael
will possess what belonged to the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, while the exiles of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad,
will possess the cities of the Negev.
21 The victorious will go up on Mount Zion
to judge the hill country of Esau.
Then the kingdom shall be Adonai’s.
Jonah Runs From His Mission
1 Now the word of Adonai came to Jonah,[a] son of Amittai, saying: 2 “Rise, go to the great city Nineveh and call out to her, for their evil has risen before me.”
3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish, from the presence of Adonai. He went down to Jaffa and found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fee and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish—away from the presence of Adonai.
4 Then Adonai hurled a forceful wind into the sea and there was such a mighty storm on the sea that the ship was about to shatter. 5 So the sailors were afraid and cried out, each man to his own god. Then they cast the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest part of the ship, to lay down and fell fast asleep.
6 So the chief sailor came near to him and said to him, “What, are you sleeping? Get up! Call out to your god. Perhaps the gods will consider us, so we will not perish!”
7 Then each man said to his companion, “Come, let’s cast lots—so we may know because of whom this evil is happening to us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.[b]
8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account is this evil happening to us? What is your profession and where did you come from? What is your land and from what nation are you?”
9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew and I fear Adonai God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men became afraid with an overwhelming fear and they said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he had fled from the presence of Adonai, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you so the sea will become calm for us?”—for the storm was raging on.
12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he said to them, “then the sea will become calm for you. For I know it is because of me that this great storm is upon you.”
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to the land, but they could not, because the sea kept raging against them. 14 So they cried to Adonai and said, “Please, Adonai, don’t let us perish on account of the soul of this man and don’t put innocent blood on us. For you, Adonai, have done as you pleased.”
15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea—and the sea stilled from its raging. 16 Then the men became afraid with an overwhelming fear of Adonai, and they offered a sacrifice to Adonai and made vows.
2 Now Adonai prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.[c][d]
Jonah’s Prayer of Distress
2 Then Jonah prayed to Adonai his God from the belly of the fish, 3 saying:
“From my distress I cried to Adonai
and He answered me.
From the belly of Sheol I cried for help
and you heard my voice.[e]
4 For you hurled me from the deep
into the heart of the seas,
and currents swirled around me.
All your waves and your breakers
swept over me.”
5 And I said, “I have been banished
from before your eyes.
Yet I will continue to look
toward your holy Temple.”
6 Waters surrounded me up to my soul.
The deep sea engulfed me—
reeds clung to my head.
7 To the bottoms of the mountains I went down.
The earth with her bars was around me, forever!
Yet You brought my life up from the Pit,
Adonai my God.
8 As my soul was fading from me,
I remembered Adonai
and my prayer came to You,
toward Your holy Temple.
9 Those who watch worthless empty things
forsake their mercy.
10 But I, with a voice of thanks
will sacrifice to you.
What I vowed, I will pay.
Salvation is from Adonai.”
11 Then Adonai spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto the dry land.
Nineveh Repents
3 Now the word of Adonai came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Rise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out to it the proclamation that I am telling you.”
3 So Jonah rose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Adonai. Now Nineveh was a great city to God—the length of a three day journey. 4 So Jonah began to come into the city for one day’s journey, and he cried out saying: “Another forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown!”
5 Then the people of Nineveh believed God and called for a fast and wore sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. 7 He made a proclamation saying:
“In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, no man or beast, herd or flock, may taste anything. They must not graze nor drink water. 8 But cover man and beast with sackcloth. Let them cry out to God with urgency. Let each one turn from his evil way and from the violence in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent, and turn back from his burning anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw their deeds—that they turned from their wicked ways—God relented from the calamity that He said He would do to them, and did not do it.
Jonah’s Displeasure at God’s Mercy
4 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he resented it. 2 So he prayed to Adonai and said, “Please, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my own country? That’s what I anticipated, fleeing to Tarshish—for I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and full of kindness, and relenting over calamity. 3 So please, Adonai, take my soul from me—because better is my death than my life.”
4 Yet Adonai said, “Is it good for you to be so angry?”
5 So Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city. There He made a sukkah and he sat under it, in the shade, until he saw what would happen in the city. 6 Then Adonai God prepared a plant and it grew up over Jonah, to give shade over his head to spare him from his discomfort. So Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But God at dawn the next day prepared a worm that crippled the plant and it withered away. 8 When the sun rose, God prepared a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint. So he implored that his soul would die, saying, “My death would be better than my life!”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it good for you to be so angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said, “I am angry enough to die!”
10 But Adonai said, “You have pity on the plant for which you did no labor or make it grow, that appeared overnight and perished overnight. So shouldn’t I have pity on Nineveh—the great city that has in it more than 120,000 people who don’t know their right hand from their left—as well as many animals?”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.