King Uzziah of Judah

¹In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel, Uzziah son of Amaziah became king of Judah

²at the age of sixteen, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem.

³Following the example of his father, he did what was pleasing to the Lord.

⁴But the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁵The Lord struck Uzziah with a dreaded skin disease that stayed with him the rest of his life. He lived in a separate house, relieved of all duties, while his son Jotham governed the country.

⁶Everything else that Uzziah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

⁷Uzziah died and was buried in the royal burial ground in David's City, and his son Jotham succeeded him as king.

King Zechariah of Israel

⁸In the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam II became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for six months.

⁹He, like his predecessors, sinned against the Lord. He followed the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

¹⁰Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against King Zechariah, assassinated him at Ibleam, and succeeded him as king.

¹¹Everything else that Zechariah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

¹²So the promise was fulfilled which the Lord had made to King Jehu: “Your descendants down to the fourth generation will be kings of Israel.”

King Shallum of Israel

¹³In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for one month.

¹⁴Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah to Samaria, assassinated Shallum, and succeeded him as king.

¹⁵Everything else that Shallum did, including an account of his conspiracy, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

¹⁶As Menahem was on his way from Tirzah, he completely destroyed the city of Tappuah, its inhabitants, and the surrounding territory, because the city did not surrender to him. He even ripped open the bellies of all the pregnant women.

King Menahem of Israel

¹⁷In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for ten years.

¹⁸He sinned against the Lord, for until the day of his death he followed the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

¹⁹Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, invaded Israel, and Menahem gave him thirty-eight tons of silver to gain his support in strengthening Menahem's power over the country.

²⁰Menahem got the money from the rich men of Israel by forcing each one to contribute fifty pieces of silver. So Tiglath Pileser went back to his own country.

²¹Everything else that Menahem did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

²²He died and was buried, and his son Pekahiah succeeded him as king.

King Pekahiah of Israel

²³In the fiftieth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for two years.

²⁴He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

²⁵An officer of Pekahiah's forces, Pekah son of Remaliah, plotted with fifty men from Gilead, assassinated Pekahiah in the palace's inner fortress in Samaria, and succeeded him as king.

²⁶Everything else that Pekahiah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Pekah of Israel

²⁷In the fifty-second year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twenty years.

²⁸He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

²⁹It was while Pekah was king that Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, captured the cities of Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor, and the territories of Gilead, Galilee, and Naphtali, and took the people to Assyria as prisoners.

³⁰In the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham son of Uzziah as king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah plotted against King Pekah, assassinated him, and succeeded him as king.

³¹Everything else that Pekah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Jotham of Judah

³²In the second year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah as king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king of Judah

³³at the age of twenty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

³⁴Following the example of his father Uzziah, Jotham did what was pleasing to the Lord.

³⁵But the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. It was Jotham who built the North Gate of the Temple.

³⁶Everything else that Jotham did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

³⁷It was while he was king that the Lord first sent King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel to attack Judah.

³⁸Jotham died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Ahaz succeeded him as king.

Jonah Disobeys the Lord

¹One day the Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai.

²He said, “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against it; I am aware of how wicked its people are.”

³Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the Lord.

⁴But the Lord sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up.

⁵The sailors were terrified and cried out for help, each one to his own god. Then, in order to lessen the danger, they threw the cargo overboard. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone below and was lying in the ship's hold, sound asleep.

⁶The captain found him there and said to him, “What are you doing asleep? Get up and pray to your god for help. Maybe he will feel sorry for us and spare our lives.”

⁷The sailors said to each other, “Let's draw lots and find out who is to blame for getting us into this danger.” They did so, and Jonah's name was drawn.

⁸So they said to him, “Now, then, tell us! Who is to blame for this? What are you doing here? What country do you come from? What is your nationality?”

⁹“I am a Hebrew,” Jonah answered. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made land and sea.”

¹⁰Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the Lord. The sailors were terrified, and said to him, “That was an awful thing to do!”

¹¹The storm was getting worse all the time, so the sailors asked him, “What should we do to you to stop the storm?”

¹²Jonah answered, “Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm.”

¹³Instead, the sailors tried to get the ship to shore, rowing with all their might. But the storm was becoming worse and worse, and they got nowhere.

¹⁴So they cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, we pray, don't punish us with death for taking this man's life! You, O Lord, are responsible for all this; it is your doing.”

¹⁵Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it calmed down at once.

¹⁶This made the sailors so afraid of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice and promised to serve him.

¹⁷At the Lord's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah's Prayer

¹From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God:

²“In my distress, O Lord, I called to you, and you answered me. From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me.

³You threw me down into the depths, to the very bottom of the sea, where the waters were all around me, and all your mighty waves rolled over me.

⁴I thought I had been banished from your presence and would never see your holy Temple again.

⁵The water came over me and choked me; the sea covered me completely, and seaweed wrapped around my head.

⁶I went down to the very roots of the mountains, into the land whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, brought me back from the depths alive.

⁷When I felt my life slipping away, then, O Lord, I prayed to you, and in your holy Temple you heard me.

⁸Those who worship worthless idols have abandoned their loyalty to you.

⁹But I will sing praises to you; I will offer you a sacrifice and do what I have promised. Salvation comes from the Lord!”

¹⁰Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach, and it did.

Jonah Obeys the Lord

¹Once again the Lord spoke to Jonah.

²He said, “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to the people the message I have given you.”

³So Jonah obeyed the Lord and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to walk through it.

⁴Jonah started through the city, and after walking a whole day, he proclaimed, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed!”

⁵The people of Nineveh believed God's message. So they decided that everyone should fast, and all the people, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth to show that they had repented.

⁶When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes.

⁷He sent out a proclamation to the people of Nineveh: “This is an order from the king and his officials: No one is to eat anything; all persons, cattle, and sheep are forbidden to eat or drink.

⁸All persons and animals must wear sackcloth. Everyone must pray earnestly to God and must give up their wicked behavior and their evil actions.

⁹Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!”

¹⁰God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.

Jonah's Anger and God's Mercy

¹Jonah was very unhappy about this and became angry.

²So he prayed, “Lord, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That's why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish.

³Now then, Lord, let me die. I am better off dead than alive.”

⁴The Lord answered, “What right do you have to be angry?”

⁵Jonah went out east of the city and sat down. He made a shelter for himself and sat in its shade, waiting to see what would happen to Nineveh.

⁶Then the Lord God made a plant grow up over Jonah to give him some shade, so that he would be more comfortable. Jonah was extremely pleased with the plant.

⁷But at dawn the next day, at God's command, a worm attacked the plant, and it died.

⁸After the sun had risen, God sent a hot east wind, and Jonah was about to faint from the heat of the sun beating down on his head. So he wished he were dead. “I am better off dead than alive,” he said.

⁹But God said to him, “What right do you have to be angry about the plant?” Jonah replied, “I have every right to be angry—angry enough to die!”

¹⁰The Lord said to him, “This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn't do anything for it and you didn't make it grow—yet you feel sorry for it!

¹¹How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!”

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

¹I thank you, Lord, with all my heart; I sing praise to you before the gods.

²I face your holy Temple, bow down, and praise your name because of your constant love and faithfulness, because you have shown that your name and your commands are supreme.

³You answered me when I called to you; with your strength you strengthened me.

⁴All the kings in the world will praise you, Lord, because they have heard your promises.

⁵They will sing about what you have done and about your great glory.

⁶Even though you are so high above, you care for the lowly, and the proud cannot hide from you.

⁷When I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe. You oppose my angry enemies and save me by your power.

⁸You will do everything you have promised; Lord, your love is eternal. Complete the work that you have begun.