Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish.

²He said, “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!

³You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.

⁴Then I said, ‘O LORD, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’

⁵“I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

⁶I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!

⁷As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

⁸Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

⁹But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.”

¹⁰Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time:

²“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

³This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

⁴On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”

⁵The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

⁶When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.

⁷Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.

⁸People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.

⁹Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

¹⁰When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

¹This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.

²So he complained to the LORD about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.

³Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

⁴The LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

⁵Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.

⁶And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

⁷But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.

⁸And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

⁹Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

¹⁰Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.

¹¹But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

¹The LORD gave this message to Micah of Moresheth during the years when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. The visions he saw concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem.

²Attention! Let all the people of the world listen! Let the earth and everything in it hear. The Sovereign LORD is making accusations against you; the Lord speaks from his holy Temple.

³Look! The LORD is coming! He leaves his throne in heaven and tramples the heights of the earth.

⁴The mountains melt beneath his feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill.

⁵And why is this happening? Because of the rebellion of Israel — yes, the sins of the whole nation. Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion? Samaria, its capital city! Where is the center of idolatry in Judah? In Jerusalem, its capital!

⁶“So I, the LORD, will make the city of Samaria a heap of ruins. Her streets will be plowed up for planting vineyards. I will roll the stones of her walls into the valley below, exposing her foundations.

⁷All her carved images will be smashed. All her sacred treasures will be burned. These things were bought with the money earned by her prostitution, and they will now be carried away to pay prostitutes elsewhere.”

⁸Therefore, I will mourn and lament. I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.

⁹For my people’s wound is too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem.

¹⁰Don’t tell our enemies in Gath ; don’t weep at all. You people in Beth-leaphrah, roll in the dust to show your despair.

¹¹You people in Shaphir, go as captives into exile — naked and ashamed. The people of Zaanan dare not come outside their walls. The people of Beth-ezel mourn, for their house has no support.

¹²The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, but only bitterness awaits them as the LORD’s judgment reaches even to the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³Harness your chariot horses and flee, you people of Lachish. You were the first city in Judah to follow Israel in her rebellion, and you led Jerusalem into sin.

¹⁴Send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath ; there is no hope of saving it. The town of Aczib has deceived the kings of Israel.

¹⁵O people of Mareshah, I will bring a conqueror to capture your town. And the leaders of Israel will go to Adullam.

¹⁶Oh, people of Judah, shave your heads in sorrow, for the children you love will be snatched away. Make yourselves as bald as a vulture, for your little ones will be exiled to distant lands.

¹What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so.

²When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance.

³But this is what the LORD says: “I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose. You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time.”

⁴In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you: “We are finished, completely ruined! God has confiscated our land, taking it from us. He has given our fields to those who betrayed us. ”

⁵Others will set your boundaries then, and the LORD’s people will have no say in how the land is divided.

⁶“Don’t say such things,” the people respond. “Don’t prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!”

⁷Should you talk that way, O family of Israel? Will the LORD’s Spirit have patience with such behavior? If you would do what is right, you would find my words comforting.

⁸Yet to this very hour my people rise against me like an enemy! You steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, making them as ragged as men returning from battle.

⁹You have evicted women from their pleasant homes and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them.

¹⁰Up! Begone! This is no longer your land and home, for you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely.

¹¹Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!” That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!

¹²“Someday, O Israel, I will gather you; I will gather the remnant who are left. I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture. Yes, your land will again be filled with noisy crowds!

¹³Your leader will break out and lead you out of exile, out through the gates of the enemy cities, back to your own land. Your king will lead you; the LORD himself will guide you.”

¹I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong,

²but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh from their bones.

³Yes, you eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and break their bones. You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot.

⁴Then you beg the LORD for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to answer? After all the evil you have done, he won’t even look at you!”

⁵This is what the LORD says: “You false prophets are leading my people astray! You promise peace for those who give you food, but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.

⁶Now the night will close around you, cutting off all your visions. Darkness will cover you, putting an end to your predictions. The sun will set for you prophets, and your day will come to an end.

⁷Then you seers will be put to shame, and you fortune-tellers will be disgraced. And you will cover your faces because there is no answer from God.”

⁸But as for me, I am filled with power — with the Spirit of the LORD. I am filled with justice and strength to boldly declare Israel’s sin and rebellion.

⁹Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice and twist all that is right.

¹⁰You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption.

¹¹You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the LORD. “No harm can come to us,” you say, “for the LORD is here among us.”

¹²Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.

¹In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all — the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

²People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.

³The LORD will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes between strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.

⁴Everyone will live in peace and prosperity, enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees, for there will be nothing to fear. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has made this promise!

⁵Though the nations around us follow their idols, we will follow the LORD our God forever and ever.

⁶“In that coming day,” says the LORD, “I will gather together those who are lame, those who have been exiles, and those whom I have filled with grief.

⁷Those who are weak will survive as a remnant; those who were exiles will become a strong nation. Then I, the LORD, will rule from Jerusalem as their king forever.”

⁸As for you, Jerusalem, the citadel of God’s people, your royal might and power will come back to you again. The kingship will be restored to my precious Jerusalem.

⁹But why are you now screaming in terror? Have you no king to lead you? Have your wise people all died? Pain has gripped you like a woman in childbirth.

¹⁰Writhe and groan like a woman in labor, you people of Jerusalem, for now you must leave this city to live in the open country. You will soon be sent in exile to distant Babylon. But the LORD will rescue you there; he will redeem you from the grip of your enemies.

¹¹Now many nations have gathered against you. “Let her be desecrated,” they say. “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem. ”

¹²But they do not know the LORD’s thoughts or understand his plan. These nations don’t know that he is gathering them together to be beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.

¹³“Rise up and crush the nations, O Jerusalem!” says the LORD. “For I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves, so you can trample many nations to pieces. You will present their stolen riches to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.”

¹Mobilize! Marshal your troops! The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem. They will strike Israel’s leader in the face with a rod.

²But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

³The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the woman in labor gives birth. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land.

⁴And he will stand to lead his flock with the LORD’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world.

⁵And he will be the source of peace. When the Assyrians invade our land and break through our defenses, we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us, eight princes to lead us.

⁶They will rule Assyria with drawn swords and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod. He will rescue us from the Assyrians when they pour over the borders to invade our land.

⁷Then the remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like dew sent by the LORD or like rain falling on the grass, which no one can hold back and no one can restrain.

⁸The remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a strong young lion among flocks of sheep and goats, pouncing and tearing as they go with no rescuer in sight.

⁹The people of Israel will stand up to their foes, and all their enemies will be wiped out.

¹⁰“In that day,” says the LORD, “I will slaughter your horses and destroy your chariots.

¹¹I will tear down your walls and demolish your defenses.

¹²I will put an end to all witchcraft, and there will be no more fortune-tellers.

¹³I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars, so you will never again worship the work of your own hands.

¹⁴I will abolish your idol shrines with their Asherah poles and destroy your pagan cities.

¹⁵I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me.”

¹Listen to what the LORD is saying: “Stand up and state your case against me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints.

²And now, O mountains, listen to the LORD’s complaint! He has a case against his people. He will bring charges against Israel.

³“O my people, what have I done to you? What have I done to make you tired of me? Answer me!

⁴For I brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.

⁵Don’t you remember, my people, how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead? And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, when I, the LORD, did everything I could to teach you about my faithfulness.”

⁶What can we bring to the LORD? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves?

⁷Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?

⁸No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

⁹Fear the LORD if you are wise! His voice calls to everyone in Jerusalem: “The armies of destruction are coming; the LORD is sending them.

¹⁰What shall I say about the homes of the wicked filled with treasures gained by cheating? What about the disgusting practice of measuring out grain with dishonest measures?

¹¹How can I tolerate your merchants who use dishonest scales and weights?

¹²The rich among you have become wealthy through extortion and violence. Your citizens are so used to lying that their tongues can no longer tell the truth.

¹³“Therefore, I will wound you! I will bring you to ruin for all your sins.

¹⁴You will eat but never have enough. Your hunger pangs and emptiness will remain. And though you try to save your money, it will come to nothing in the end. You will save a little, but I will give it to those who conquer you.

¹⁵You will plant crops but not harvest them. You will press your olives but not get enough oil to anoint yourselves. You will trample the grapes but get no juice to make your wine.

¹⁶You keep only the laws of evil King Omri; you follow only the example of wicked King Ahab! Therefore, I will make an example of you, bringing you to complete ruin. You will be treated with contempt, mocked by all who see you.”

¹How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger.

²The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers.

³Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil! Officials and judges alike demand bribes. The people with influence get what they want, and together they scheme to twist justice.

⁴Even the best of them is like a brier; the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion.

⁵Don’t trust anyone — not your best friend or even your wife!

⁶For the son despises his father. The daughter defies her mother. The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law. Your enemies are right in your own household!

⁷As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.

⁸Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

⁹I will be patient as the LORD punishes me, for I have sinned against him. But after that, he will take up my case and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies. The LORD will bring me into the light, and I will see his righteousness.

¹⁰Then my enemies will see that the LORD is on my side. They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying, “So where is the LORD — that God of yours?” With my own eyes I will see their downfall; they will be trampled like mud in the streets.

¹¹In that day, Israel, your cities will be rebuilt, and your borders will be extended.

¹²People from many lands will come and honor you — from Assyria all the way to the towns of Egypt, from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River, and from distant seas and mountains.

¹³But the land will become empty and desolate because of the wickedness of those who live there.

¹⁴O LORD, protect your people with your shepherd’s staff; lead your flock, your special possession. Though they live alone in a thicket on the heights of Mount Carmel, let them graze in the fertile pastures of Bashan and Gilead as they did long ago.

¹⁵“Yes,” says the LORD, “I will do mighty miracles for you, like those I did when I rescued you from slavery in Egypt.”

¹⁶All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the LORD will do for you. They will be embarrassed at their feeble power. They will cover their mouths in silent awe, deaf to everything around them.

¹⁷Like snakes crawling from their holes, they will come out to meet the LORD our God. They will fear him greatly, trembling in terror at his presence.

¹⁸Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.

¹⁹Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

²⁰You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.

¹This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh.

²The LORD is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies!

³The LORD is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished. He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.

⁴At his command the oceans dry up, and the rivers disappear. The lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade, and the green forests of Lebanon wither.

⁵In his presence the mountains quake, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles, and its people are destroyed.

⁶Who can stand before his fierce anger? Who can survive his burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence.

⁷The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.

⁸But he will sweep away his enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue his foes into the darkness of night.

⁹Why are you scheming against the LORD? He will destroy you with one blow; he won’t need to strike twice!

¹⁰His enemies, tangled like thornbushes and staggering like drunks, will be burned up like dry stubble in a field.

¹¹Who is this wicked counselor of yours who plots evil against the LORD?

¹²This is what the LORD says: “Though the Assyrians have many allies, they will be destroyed and disappear. O my people, I have punished you before, but I will not punish you again.

¹³Now I will break the yoke of bondage from your neck and tear off the chains of Assyrian oppression.”

¹⁴And this is what the LORD says concerning the Assyrians in Nineveh: “You will have no more children to carry on your name. I will destroy all the idols in the temples of your gods. I am preparing a grave for you because you are despicable!”

¹⁵Look! A messenger is coming over the mountains with good news! He is bringing a message of peace. Celebrate your festivals, O people of Judah, and fulfill all your vows, for your wicked enemies will never invade your land again. They will be completely destroyed!

¹Your enemy is coming to crush you, Nineveh. Man the ramparts! Watch the roads! Prepare your defenses! Call out your forces!

²Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah, the LORD will restore its honor. Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches, but he will restore its splendor.

³Shields flash red in the sunlight! See the scarlet uniforms of the valiant troops! Watch as their glittering chariots move into position, with a forest of spears waving above them.

⁴The chariots race recklessly along the streets and rush wildly through the squares. They flash like firelight and move as swiftly as lightning.

⁵The king shouts to his officers; they stumble in their haste, rushing to the walls to set up their defenses.

⁶The river gates have been torn open! The palace is about to collapse!

⁷Nineveh’s exile has been decreed, and all the servant girls mourn its capture. They moan like doves and beat their breasts in sorrow.

⁸Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir! The people are slipping away. “Stop, stop!” someone shouts, but no one even looks back.

⁹Loot the silver! Plunder the gold! There’s no end to Nineveh’s treasures — its vast, uncounted wealth.

¹⁰Soon the city is plundered, empty, and ruined. Hearts melt and knees shake. The people stand aghast, their faces pale and trembling.

¹¹Where now is that great Nineveh, that den filled with young lions? It was a place where people — like lions and their cubs — walked freely and without fear.

¹²The lion tore up meat for his cubs and strangled prey for his mate. He filled his den with prey, his caverns with his plunder.

¹³“I am your enemy!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Your chariots will soon go up in smoke. Your young men will be killed in battle. Never again will you plunder conquered nations. The voices of your proud messengers will be heard no more.”

¹What sorrow awaits Nineveh, the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims.

²Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly.

³See the flashing swords and glittering spears as the charioteers charge past! There are countless casualties, heaps of bodies — so many bodies that people stumble over them.

⁴All this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all her magic, enchanting people everywhere.

⁵“I am your enemy!” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “And now I will lift your skirts and show all the earth your nakedness and shame.

⁶I will cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are.

⁷All who see you will shrink back and say, ‘Nineveh lies in ruins. Where are the mourners?’ Does anyone regret your destruction?”

⁸Are you any better than the city of Thebes, situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water? She was protected by the river on all sides, walled in by water.

⁹Ethiopia and the land of Egypt gave unlimited assistance. The nations of Put and Libya were among her allies.

¹⁰Yet Thebes fell, and her people were led away as captives. Her babies were dashed to death against the stones of the streets. Soldiers threw dice to get Egyptian officers as servants. All their leaders were bound in chains.

¹¹And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard. You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy.

¹²All your fortresses will fall. They will be devoured like the ripe figs that fall into the mouths of those who shake the trees.

¹³Your troops will be as weak and helpless as women. The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy and set on fire and burned.

¹⁴Get ready for the siege! Store up water! Strengthen the defenses! Go into the pits to trample clay, and pack it into molds, making bricks to repair the walls.

¹⁵But the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down. The enemy will consume you like locusts, devouring everything they see. There will be no escape, even if you multiply like swarming locusts.

¹⁶Your merchants have multiplied until they outnumber the stars. But like a swarm of locusts, they strip the land and fly away.

¹⁷Your guards and officials are also like swarming locusts that crowd together in the hedges on a cold day. But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up, all of them will fly away and disappear.

¹⁸Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king; your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together.

¹⁹There is no healing for your wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear of your destruction will clap their hands for joy. Where can anyone be found who has not suffered from your continual cruelty?