!

Oppression of the poor reproved. CHAP. IX.

The tabernacle is restored.

gone, that we may sell corn? and the sab-| 4 And though they go into captivity bebath, that we may set forth wheat, making fore their enemies, thence will I command the ephah small, and the shekel great, and the sword, and it shall slay them and I falsifying the balances by deceit ? will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, not for good. and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

5 And the Lord GoD of hosts is he that toucheththe land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and 6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the every one mourn that dwelleth therein? heaven, and hath founded his troop in the and it shall rise up wholly as a flood: and earth; he that calleth for the waters of the it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of flood of Egypt. the earth: The LORD is his name.

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, 7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiosaith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the pians unto me, O children of Israel? saith sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the LORD. Have not I brought_up Israel the earth in the clear day:

10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.

9 For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to 10 All the sinners of my people shall sea, and from the north even to the east; die by the sword, which say, The evil they shall run to and fro to seek the word shall not overtake nor prevent us. of the LORD, and shall not find it.

13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. CHAP. IX.

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

SAW the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, 13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the posts may shake: and cut them in that the ploughman shall overtake the reapthe head all of them; and I will slay the er, and the treader of grapes him that sowlast of them with the sword: he that fleeth eth seed; and the mountains shall drop of them shall not flee away, and he that sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. escapeth of them shall not be delivered. 14 And I will bring again the captivity 2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall of my people of Israel, and they shall build my hand take them; though they climb up the waste cities, and inhabit them; and to heaven, thence will I bring them down: they shall plant vineyards, and drink the 3 And though they hide themselves in wine thereof; they shall also make garthe top of Carmel, I will search and take dens, and eat the fruit of them. them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

TOBADIAH.

THE vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the 2 Behold, I have made thee small among Lord God concerning Edom; We have the heathen: thou art greatly despised. heard a rumour from the LORD, and an am- 3 The pride of thy heart hath debassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. of the rock, whose habitation is high; that

Salvation and victory of Jacob.

JONAH. Jonah commanded to go to Nineveh.

saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their 4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have and though thou set thy nest among the looked on their affliction in the day of their stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith calamity, nor have laid hands on their the LORD. substance in the day of their calamity;

5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by 14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in night, (how art thou cut off!) would they the cross-way, to cut off those of his that not have stolen till they had enough? if did escape; neither shouldest thou have the grape-gatherers came to thee, would delivered up those of his that did remain they not leave some grapes? in the day of distress.

6 How are the things of Esau searched 15 For the day of the LORD is near upon out! how are his hidden things sought up! all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall 7 All the men of thy confederacy have be done unto thee: thy reward shall rebrought thee even to the border: the men turn upon thine own head.

that were at peace with thee have deceiv- 16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy ed thee, and prevailed against thee; they mountain, so shall all the heathen drink that eat thy bread have laid a wound un- continually, yea, they shall drink, and der thee: there is none understanding in they shall swallow down, and they shall him. be as though they had not been.

8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, 17 ¶ But upon mount Zion shall be deeven destroy the wise men out of Edom, liverance, and there shall be holiness; and and understanding out of the mount of Esau? the house of Jacob shall possess their pos9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall sessions. be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

10 ¶ For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

and cast

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

11 In the day that thou stoodest on the 19 And they of the south shall possess other side, in the day that the strangers the mount of Esau; and they of the plain carried away captive his forces, and fo- the Philistines: and they shall possess the reigners entered into his gates, fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samalots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as ria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. one of them. 20 And the captivity of this host of the 12 But thou shouldest not have looked children of Israel shall possess that of the on the day of thy brother in the day that Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the he became a stranger; neither shouldest captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sephthou have rejoiced over the children of arad, shall possess the cities of the south. Judah in the day of their destruction; nei- 21 And saviours shall come up on mount ther shouldest thou have spoken proudly Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the in the day of distress. kingdom shall be the LORD's.

Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness come up before me.

is

cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the_ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6 So the ship-master came to him, and 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tar- said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleepshish from the presence of the LORD, and er? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that went down to Joppa; and he found a ship God will think upon us, that we perish going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare not. thereof, and went down into it, to go with 7 And they said every one to his fellow, them unto Tarshish from the presence of Come, and let us cast lots, that we may the LORD. know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

4 T 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.

8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is up5 Then the mariners were afraid, andlon us; What is thine occupation? and

Jonah is thrown into the sea:

CHAP. II, III, IV. He preaches to the Ninevites. whence comest thou? what is thy coun- 8 They that observe lying vanities, fortry? and of what people art thou? sake their own mercy.

9 And he said unto them, I am a He- 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the brew; and I fear the LORD, the God of voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that heaven, which hath made the sea and the that I have vowed. Salvation is of the dry land. LORD.

10 Then were the men exceedingly 10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry done this? For the men knew that he fled land. from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

CHAP. III.

11 T Then said they unto him, What AND the word of the LORD came unto

Jonah the second time, saying,

shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and city, and preach unto it the preaching that was tempestuous. I bid thee.

12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth 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 hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, 5 So the people of Nineveh believed and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on beseech thee, let us not perish for this sackcloth, from the greatest of them even man's life, and lay not upon us innocent to the least of them. blood for thou, O LORD, hast done as it 6 For word came unto the king of Nipleased thee. neveh, and he arose from his throne, and 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him he laid his robe from him, and covered forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. her raging. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed 16. Then the men feared the LORD ex- and published through Nineveh by the deceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the cree of the king and his nobles, saying, LORD, and made vows. Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, 17 Now the LORD had prepared a taste any thing: let them not feed, nor great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jo-drink water: nah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

CHAP. II.

This God out of the fish's belly,

HEN Jonah prayed unto the LORD

2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

10 ¶ And God saw their works, that 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, they turned from their evil way; and God in the midst of the seas; and the floods repented of the evil that he had said that compassed me about: all thy billows and he would do unto them; and he did it thy waves passed over me.

not.

CHAP. IV.

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy BUT it displeased Jonah exceedingly,

temple.

and he was very angry.

5 The waters compassed me about, even 2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and to the soul: the depth closed me round said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this about, the weeds were wrapped about my my saying, when I was yet in my country? head. Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for

6 I went down to the bottoms of the I knew that thou art a gracious God, and mountains; the earth with her bars was merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindabout me for ever: yet hast thou brought ness, and repentest thee of the evil. up my life from corruption, O LORD my 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beGod. seech thee, my life from me; for it is bet

7 When my soul fainted within me Iter for me to die than to live. remembered the LORD: and my prayer 4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou came in unto thee, into thy holy temple.weli to be angry?

Jonah's repining reproved.

MICAH.

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, till he might see what would become of the city.

6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to 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.

Micah shews God's wrath.

Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did thousand persons that cannot discern bearise, that God prepared a vehement east tween their right hand and their left hand, wind; and the sun beat upon the head of and also much cattle?

CHAP. I.

1 MICAH.

habitant of Zaanan came not forth in the

THE word of the LORD that came to mourning of Beth-ezel; he shall receive Micah the Morasthite in the days of of you his standing.

12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited

Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria carefully for good: but evil came down and Jerusalem. from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.

2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

3 For behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.

14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.

16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

W

CHAP. II.

6 Therefore, I will make Samaria as a VO to them that devise iniquity, and heap of the field, and as plantings of a work evil upon their beds! when vineyard: and I will pour down the stones the morning is light, they practise it, bethereof into the valley, and I will discover cause it is in the power of their hand. the foundations thereof. 2 And they covet fields, and take them

7 And all the graven images thereof shall by violence; and houses, and take them be beaten to pieces, and all the hires there-away: so they oppress a man and his of shall be burned with the fire, and all the house, even a man and his heritage. idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she 3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Begathered it of the hire of a harlot, and hold, against this family do I devise an they shall return to the hire of a harlot. evil, from which ye shall not remove your 8 Therefore, I will wail and howl; I necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for will go stripped and naked: I will make this time is evil. a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.

4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

5 Therefore, thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.

11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the in- 6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that

The cruelty of the princes.

CHAP. III, IV. The glory of the church. prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, of might, to declare unto Jacob his trans that they shall not take shame. gression, and to Israel his sin. 7 TO thou that art namedThe house of 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the Jacob, is the Spirit of the LORD straitened? house of Jacob, and princes of the house are these his doings? do not my words do of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pergood to him that walketh uprightly? vert all equity.

8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and 9 The women of my people have ye cast the prophets thereof divine for money: out from their pleasant houses; from their yet will they lean upon the LORD, and children have ye taken away my glory for say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil

ever.

can come upon us.

10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not 12 Therefore,shall Zion for your sake your rest: because it is polluted, it shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. become heaps, and the mountain of the 11 If a man walking in the spirit and house as the high places of the forest. falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he BUTss, that the mountain of the house shall even be the prophet of this people.

CHAP. IV.

in the last days it shall come to

pass,

12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, of the LORD shall be established in the all of thee; I will surely gather the rem- top of the mountains, and it shall be exnant of Israel; I will put them together as alted above the hills; and people shall the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the flow unto it.

midst of their fold: they shall make great 2 And many nations shall come, and noise by reason of the multitude of men. say, Come, and let us go up to the moun13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it; and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

CHAP. III.

tain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3 ¶ And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off;

ND I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment? plough-shares, and their spears into pru2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; ning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword who pluck off their skin from off them, and against nation, neither shall they learn war their flesh from off their bones;

any more.

3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, 4 But they shall sit every man under and flay their skin from off them; and they his vine and under his fig-tree; and none break their bones, and chop them in pieces, shall make them afraid: for the mouth of as for the pot, and as flesh within the cal- the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. dron.

5 For all people will walk every one in 4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, the name of his god, and we will walk in but he will not hear them: he will even the name of the LORD our God for ever hide his face from them at that time, as and ever.

they have behaved themselves ill in their 6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemdoings. ble her that halteth, and I will gather her that

5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; prophets that make my people err, that 7 And I will make her that halted a bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and remnant, and her that was cast far off a he that putteth not into their mouths, they strong nation: and the LORD shall reign even prepare war against him: over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

6 Therefore,night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be 8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto and the sun shall go down over the pro- thee shall it come, even the first dominion; phets, and the day shall be dark over them. the kingdom shall come to the daughter of 7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and Jerusalem.

the diviners confounded: yea, they shall 9 Now, why dost thou cry out aloud? is all cover their lips; for there is no answer there no king in thee? is thy counsellor of God. perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and 10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth,