Jonah Goes to Nineveh

1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the ^asecond time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that ^bgreat city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,¹ three days’ journey in breadth.² 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 ^cAnd the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

6 The word reached³ the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither ^dman nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them ^ecall out mightily to God. Let everyone ^fturn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 ^gWho knows? ^hGod may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God ⁱrelented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,⁴ and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why ^jI made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a ^kgracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, ^lplease take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God ^mappointed a plant⁵ and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.⁶ So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching ⁿeast wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that ^ogreat city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, ^pand also much cattle?”

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also ^ylay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us ^zrun with ^aendurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the ^bfounder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him ^cendured the cross, despising the shame, and is ^dseated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or ^efainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the ^fexhortation that addresses you as sons?

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. ⁱGod is treating you as sons. For ^jwhat son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father ^kof spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that ^lwe may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the ^mpeaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been ⁿtrained by it.

12 Therefore ^olift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 ^pStrive for peace with everyone, and for the ^qholiness without which no one will see the Lord.

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed¹ thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I ^ffast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, ^gwould not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For ^heveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”