They cast lots for My people;
they bartered a boy for a prostitute
and sold a girl for wine to drink.

I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken.

Egypt will become desolate,
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence done to the people of Judah
in whose land they shed innocent blood.

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Damascus
for three crimes, even four,
because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Gaza
for three crimes, even four,
because they exiled a whole community,
handing them over to Edom.

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Tyre
for three crimes, even four,
because they handed over
a whole community of exiles to Edom
and broke a treaty of brotherhood.

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites
for three crimes, even four,
because they ripped open
the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to enlarge their territory.

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord
and have not kept His statutes.
The lies that their ancestors followed
have led them astray.

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel
for three crimes, even four,
because they sell a righteous person for silver
and a needy person for a pair of sandals.

They trample the heads of the poor
on the dust of the ground
and block the path of the needy.
A man and his father have sexual relations
with the same girl,
profaning My holy name.

They stretch out beside every altar
on garments taken as collateral,
and in the house of their God,
they drink wine obtained through fines.

They hate the one who convicts the guilty
at the city gate
and despise the one who speaks with integrity.

For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
They oppress the righteous, take a bribe,
and deprive the poor of justice at the gates.

Therefore Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says:

There will be wailing in all the public squares;
they will cry out in anguish in all the streets.
The farmer will be called on to mourn,
and professional mourners to wail.

They lie on beds inlaid with ivory,
sprawled out on their couches,
and dine on lambs from the flock
and calves from the stall.

They improvise songs to the sound of the harp
and invent their own musical instruments like David.

They drink wine by the bowlful
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

Therefore, they will now go into exile
as the first of the captives,
and the feasting of those who sprawl out
will come to an end.

And if there are 10 men left in one house, they will die.

But look, I am raising up a nation
against you, house of Israel—
this is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Hosts—
and they will oppress you
from the entrance of Hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah.

People will stagger from sea to sea
and roam from north to east,
seeking the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria
and say, “As your god lives, Dan,”
or “As the way of Beer-sheba lives”—
they will fall, never to rise again.

If they dig down to Sheol,
from there My hand will take them;
if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.

If they hide themselves
on the top of Carmel,
from there I will track them down
and seize them;
if they conceal themselves
from My sight on the sea floor,
from there I will command
the sea serpent to bite them.

And if they are driven
by their enemies into captivity,
from there I will command
the sword to kill them.
I will fix My eyes on them
for harm and not for good.

so that they may possess
the remnant of Edom
and all the nations
that are called by My name—
this is the Lord’s declaration—

He will do this.

I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel.
They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
make gardens and eat their produce.

I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them.
Yahweh your God has spoken.

If thieves came to you,
if marauders by night—
how ravaged you would be!—
wouldn’t they steal only what they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
wouldn’t they leave some grapes?

As you have drunk on My holy mountain,
so all the nations will drink continually.
They will drink and gulp down
and be as though they had never been.

Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire,
and the house of Joseph, a burning flame,
but the house of Esau will be stubble;
Jacob will set them on fire and consume Edom.
Therefore no survivor will remain
of the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.

People from the Negev will possess
the hill country of Esau;
those from the Judean foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.
They will possess
the territories of Ephraim and Samaria,
while Benjamin will possess Gilead.

The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god. They threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel and had stretched out and fallen into a deep sleep.

“Come on!” the sailors said to each other. “Let’s cast lots. Then we’ll know who is to blame for this trouble we’re in.” So they cast lots, and the lot singled out Jonah.

Then they said to him, “Tell us who is to blame for this trouble we’re in. What is your business and where are you from? What is your country and what people are you from?”

So they said to him, “What should we do to you to calm this sea that’s against us?” For the sea was getting worse and worse.

Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they couldn’t because the sea was raging against them more and more.

So they called out to the Lord: “Please, Yahweh, don’t let us perish because of this man’s life, and don’t charge us with innocent blood! For You, Yahweh, have done just as You pleased.”

Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.

The men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

The men of Nineveh believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

Then he issued a decree in Nineveh:

By order of the king and his nobles: No man or beast, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water.

Then God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—so God relented from the disaster He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it.

All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
all her wages will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
they will be used again for a prostitute.

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair
in sorrow for your precious children;
make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
for they have been taken from you into exile.

Woe to those who dream up wickedness
and prepare evil plans on their beds!
At morning light they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands.

They covet fields and seize them;
they also take houses.
They deprive a man of his home,
a person of his inheritance.

“Quit your preaching,” they preach.
“They should not preach these things;
shame will not overtake us.”

One who breaks open the way
will advance before them;
they will break out, pass through the gate,
and leave by it.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord as their leader.

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but He will not answer them.
He will hide His face from them at that time
because of the crimes they have committed.

This is what the Lord says
concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who proclaim peace
when they have food to sink their teeth into
but declare war against the one
who puts nothing in their mouths.

Then the seers will be ashamed
and the diviners disappointed.
They will all cover their mouths
because there will be no answer from God.

Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe,
her priests teach for payment,
and her prophets practice divination for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“Isn’t the Lord among us?
No disaster will overtake us.”

He will settle disputes among many peoples
and provide arbitration for strong nations
that are far away.
They will beat their swords into plows,
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war.

Many nations have now assembled against you;
they say, “Let her be defiled,
and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

But they do not know the Lord’s intentions
or understand His plan,
that He has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion,
for I will make your horns iron
and your hooves bronze,
so you can crush many peoples.
Then you will set apart their plunder
to the Lord for destruction,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Now, daughter who is under attack,
you slash yourself in grief;
a siege is set against us!
They are striking the judge of Israel
on the cheek with a rod.

He will stand and shepherd them
in the strength of Yahweh,
in the majestic name of Yahweh His God.
They will live securely,
for then His greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.

They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with a drawn blade.
So He will rescue us from Assyria
when it invades our land,
when it marches against our territory.

Godly people have vanished from the land;
there is no one upright among the people.
All of them wait in ambush to shed blood;
they hunt each other with a net.

Both hands are good at accomplishing evil:
the official and the judge demand a bribe;
when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,
they plot it together.

Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
the flock that is Your possession.
They live alone in a woodland
surrounded by pastures.
Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in ancient times.

Nations will see and be ashamed
of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,
and their ears will become deaf.

They will lick the dust like a snake;
they will come trembling out of their hiding places
like reptiles slithering on the ground.
They will tremble in the presence of Yahweh our God;
they will stand in awe of You.

For they will be consumed
like entangled thorns,
like the drink of a drunkard
and like straw that is fully dry.

This is what the Lord says:

Though they are strong and numerous,
they will still be mowed down,
and he will pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no longer.

The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.

He gives orders to his officers;
they stumble as they advance.
They race to its wall;
the protective shield is set in place.

Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her first days,
but they are fleeing.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.

Charging horseman,
flashing sword,
shining spear;
heaps of slain,
mounds of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over their dead.

Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity.
Her children were also dashed to pieces
at the head of every street.
They cast lots for her dignitaries,
and all her nobles were bound in chains.

All your fortresses are fig trees
with figs that ripened first;
when shaken, they fall—
right into the mouth of the eater!

Your court officials are like the swarming locust,
and your scribes like clouds of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they take off,
and no one knows where they are.

They are fierce and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.

Their horses are swifter than leopards
and more fierce than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour.

All of them come to do violence;
their faces are set in determination.
They gather prisoners like sand.

They mock kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture it.

Then they sweep by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty; their strength is their god.

The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.

That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.

Will they therefore empty their net
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his—
how much longer?—
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.

Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses a ruin.
They will build houses but never live in them,
plant vineyards but never drink their wine.

I will bring distress on mankind,
and they will walk like the blind
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.

The coastland will belong
to the remnant of the house of Judah;
they will find pasture there.
They will lie down in the evening
among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the Lord their God will return to them
and restore their fortunes.

This is what they get for their pride,
because they have taunted and acted arrogantly
against the people of the Lord of Hosts.

Her prophets are reckless—
treacherous men.
Her priests profane the sanctuary;
they do violence to instruction.

I thought: You will certainly fear Me
and accept correction.
Then her dwelling place
would not be cut off
based on all that I had allocated to her.
However, they became more corrupt
in all their actions.

I will leave
a meek and humble people among you,
and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.

The remnant of Israel will no longer
do wrong or tell lies;
a deceitful tongue will not be found
in their mouths.
But they will pasture and lie down,
with nothing to make them afraid.

I will gather those who have been driven
from the appointed festivals;
they will be a tribute from you
and a reproach on her.

The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They began work on the house of Yahweh of Hosts, their God,

Then Haggai replied, “So is this people, and so is this nation before Me”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “And so is every work of their hands; even what they offer there is defiled.

Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to Me”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

But didn’t My words and My statutes that I commanded My servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? They repented and said: As the Lord of Hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so He has dealt with us.”

I asked, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel who was talking to me replied, “I will show you what they are.”

Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”

They reported to the Angel of the Lord standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and right now the whole earth is calm and quiet.”

I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was a little angry, but they made it worse.