Font Size
Jonah 4 - Micah 2
New International Version
Jonah 4 - Micah 2
New International Version
Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion
4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.(A) 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew(B) that you are a gracious(C) and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,(D) a God who relents(E) from sending calamity.(F) 3 Now, Lord, take away my life,(G) for it is better for me to die(H) than to live.”(I)
4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”(J)
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided(K) a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.(L) 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,(M) and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”(N)
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern(O) for the great city of Nineveh,(P) in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth(Q) during the reigns of Jotham,(R) Ahaz(S) and Hezekiah,(T) kings of Judah(U)—the vision(V) he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear,(W) you peoples, all of you,(X)
listen, earth(Y) and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness(Z) against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.(AA)
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling(AB) place;
he comes down(AC) and treads on the heights of the earth.(AD)
4 The mountains melt(AE) beneath him(AF)
and the valleys split apart,(AG)
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?(AH)
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.(AI)
I will pour her stones(AJ) into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.(AK)
7 All her idols(AL) will be broken to pieces;(AM)
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.(AN)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,(AO)
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Weeping and Mourning
8 Because of this I will weep(AP) and wail;
I will go about barefoot(AQ) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague(AR) is incurable;(AS)
it has spread to Judah.(AT)
It has reached the very gate(AU) of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[b];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[c]
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked(AV) and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.[d]
Those who live in Zaanan[e]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[f] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,(AW)
because disaster(AX) has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,(AY)
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion(AZ) began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts(BA)
to Moresheth(BB) Gath.
The town of Akzib[g](BC) will prove deceptive(BD)
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.[h](BE)
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.(BF)
16 Shave(BG) your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.(BH)
Human Plans and God’s Plans
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil(BI) on their beds!(BJ)
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields(BK) and seize them,(BL)
and houses, and take them.
They defraud(BM) people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.(BN)
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster(BO) against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(BP)
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;(BQ)
my people’s possession is divided up.(BR)
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace(BU) will not overtake us.(BV)”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[i] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good(BW)
to the one whose ways are upright?(BX)
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.(BY)
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,(BZ)
because it is defiled,(CA)
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver(CB) comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’(CC)
that would be just the prophet for this people!(CD)
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant(CE) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.(CF)
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before(CG) them;
they will break through the gate(CH) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Footnotes
- Jonah 4:6 The precise identification of this plant is uncertain; also in verses 7, 9 and 10.
- Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell.
- Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust.
- Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant.
- Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out.
- Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter.
- Micah 1:14 Akzib means deception.
- Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror.
- Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
Jonah 4 - Micah 2
King James Version
Jonah 4 - Micah 2
King James Version
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?
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.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of 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 thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and 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?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make 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.
11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of 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 Moreshethgath: 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.
2 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.
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.
6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the Lord straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
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.
9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
13 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.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.