One Year Bible.

Jonah Flees from the LORD

¹Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ²“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”

³Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

The Great Storm

⁴Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart. ⁵The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

⁶The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”

⁷“Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.”

So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

⁸“Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”

⁹“I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Jonah Cast into the Sea

¹¹Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?”

¹²“Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.”

¹³Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.

¹⁴So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”

¹⁵Then they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.

¹⁶Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.

¹⁷Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Jonah’s Prayer

¹From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God, ²saying:

“In my distress I called to the LORD,

and He answered me.

From the belly of Sheol I called for help,

and You heard my voice.

³For You cast me into the deep,

into the heart of the seas,

and the current swirled about me;

all Your breakers and waves swept over me.

⁴At this, I said,

‘I have been banished from Your sight;

yet I will look once more

toward Your holy temple.’

⁵The waters engulfed me

to take my life;

the watery depths closed around me;

the seaweed wrapped around my head.

⁶To the roots of the mountains I descended;

the earth beneath me barred me in forever!

But You raised my life from the pit,

O LORD my God!

⁷As my life was fading away,

I remembered the LORD.

My prayer went up to You,

to Your holy temple.

⁸Those who cling to worthless idols

forsake His loving devotion.

⁹But I, with the voice of thanksgiving,

will sacrifice to You.

I will fulfill what I have vowed.

Salvation is from the LORD!”

¹⁰And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

The Ninevites Repent

¹Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: ²“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”

³This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD.

Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey. ⁴On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”

⁵And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

⁶When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

⁷Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. ⁸Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. ⁹Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

¹⁰When God saw their actions— that they had turned from their evil ways— He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

Amaziah Reigns in Judah

¹In the second year of the reign of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz over Israel, Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah. ²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. ³And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. He did everything as his father Joash had done.

⁴Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

⁵As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king. ⁶Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”

⁷Amaziah struck down 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He took Sela in battle and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this very day.

Jehoash Defeats Amaziah

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.

⁹But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle. ¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall— you and Judah with you?”

¹¹But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah. ¹²And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his home.

¹³There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah.

Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate — a section of four hundred cubits. ¹⁴He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

Jeroboam II Succeeds Jehoash in Israel

¹⁵As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash, along with his accomplishments, his might, and how he waged war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹⁶And Jehoash rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam reigned in his place.

The Death of Amaziah

¹⁷Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. ¹⁸As for the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

¹⁹And conspirators plotted against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. ²⁰They carried him back on horses and buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.

Azariah Succeeds Amaziah in Judah

²¹Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ²²Azariah was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah rested with his fathers.

Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel

²³In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash over Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria forty-one years. ²⁴And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

²⁵This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher. ²⁶For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel, ²⁷and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

²⁸As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, along with all his accomplishments and might, and how he waged war and recovered both Damascus and Hamath for Israel from Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²⁹And Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. And his son Zechariah reigned in his place.

The Seventh Seal

¹When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ²And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.

³Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. ⁴And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.

⁵Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The First Four Trumpets

⁶And the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

⁷Then the first angel sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all the green grass.

⁸Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, ⁹a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven and landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter like wormwood oil, and many people died from the bitter waters.

¹²Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck. A third of the stars were darkened, a third of the day was without light, and a third of the night as well.

¹³And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”