The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Then the Levites – Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani – stood on the steps and called out loudly to the LORD their God.

Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! How faint is the whisper we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. The Lord bestows favor and honor; he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity.

To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living; all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight. He will receive praise forever.

It is better to be content with what the eyes can see than for one’s heart always to crave more. This continual longing is futile – like chasing the wind.

While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.

Then the guard cries out: “On the watchtower, O sovereign master, I stand all day long; at my post I am stationed every night.

“Take the harp, go through the city, forgotten prostitute! Play it well, play lots of songs, so you’ll be noticed!”

The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Honesty has disappeared; the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed. The Lord watches and is displeased, for there is no justice.

They will be called, “The Holy People, the Ones Protected by the Lord.” You will be called, “Sought After, City Not Abandoned.”

The Lord commanded the enemy, “March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them. But do not destroy them completely. Strip off their branches for these people do not belong to the Lord.

Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed like polished bronze.

I will hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to the tribes of the east, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations.

“This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: I will multiply their people like sheep.

Ephraim continually feeds on the wind; he chases the east wind all day; he multiplies lies and violence. They make treaties with Assyria, and send olive oil as tribute to Egypt.

So I will set Moab on fire, and it will consume Kerioth’s fortresses. Moab will perish in the heat of battle amid war cries and the blaring of the ram’s horn.

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city – it required three days to walk through it!)

My enemies, do not gloat over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.