Jonah 2 - 3, Matthew 27, Psalm 23 — Legacy Standard Bible

Jonah’s Prayer

2¹Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God ^afrom the stomach of the fish, ²and he said, “I ^acalled out of my distress to Yahweh,And He answered me.I cried for help from the belly of ^bSheol;You heard my voice.

³“For You had ^acast me into the deep,Into the heart of the seas,And the current surrounded me.All Your ^bbreakers and waves passed over me.⁴“So I said, ‘I have been ^adriven away from ¹Your sight.Nevertheless I will look again ^btoward Your holy temple.’⁵“^aWater encompassed me to my very soul.The great ^bdeep surrounded me,Weeds were wrapped around my head.⁶“I ^awent down to the ¹base of the mountains.The earth with its ^bbars closed behind me forever,But You have ^cbrought up my life from ²the pit, O Yahweh my God.⁷“While my soul was ^afainting within me,I ^bremembered Yahweh,And my ^cprayer came to You,To ^dYour holy temple.⁸“Those who ^aregard worthless idolsForsake their lovingkindness,⁹But as for me, I will ^asacrifice to YouWith the voice of thanksgiving.That which I have vowed I will ^bpay.^cSalvation belongs to Yahweh.”

¹⁰Then Yahweh spoke to the ^afish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.

Ninevites Turn from Their Evil Ways

3Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying, ²“Arise, go to ^aNineveh, the great city, and ^bcall out to it this very call which I am going to speak to you.” ³So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was ¹an ^aexceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. ⁴Then Jonah began to go into the city, one day’s walk; and he ^acalled out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

⁵And the ¹people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a ^afast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ⁶Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, ^acovered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ¹ashes. ⁷And he ^acried out and said, “In Nineveh by the ¹decree of the king and his nobles²: Do not let man, ³animal, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water. ⁸“But both man and ¹animal must be covered with sackcloth; and let ²men ^acall on God with their strength that each may ^bturn from his evil way and from the violence which is in ³his hands. ⁹“^aWho knows, God may turn and relent and turn away from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”

¹⁰Then God saw their works, that they ^aturned from their evil way, so ^bGod ¹relented concerning the evil which He had spoken He would ²bring upon them. And He did not ³bring it upon them.

Judas’ Remorse

27^aNow when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel together against Jesus to put Him to death; ²and they bound Him, and led Him away and ^adelivered Him to ^bPilate the governor.

³Then when ^aJudas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned ^bthe ¹thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? ^aSee to that yourself!” ⁵And he threw the pieces of silver into ^athe ¹sanctuary and departed; and ^bhe went away and hanged himself. ⁶And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” ⁷And taking counsel together, they bought ¹with the money the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. ⁸^aFor this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “^aAnd ¹they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; ¹⁰^aand ¹they gave them for the Potter’s Field, as the ²Lord directed me.”

Jesus Before Pilate

¹¹^aNow Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the ^bKing of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “^cYou yourself say it.” ¹²And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, ^aHe did not answer. ¹³Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” ¹⁴And ^aHe did not answer him with regard to even a single ¹charge, so the governor marveled greatly.

¹⁵^aNow at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. ¹⁷So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? ¹Barabbas, or Jesus ^awho is called ²Christ?” ¹⁸For he knew that because of envy they had delivered Him over.

¹⁹^aNow while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that ^brighteous Man; for ¹last night I suffered greatly ^cin a dream because of Him.” ²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ^aask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. ²¹But the governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²²Pilate *said to them, “Then, what shall I do with Jesus ^awho is called ¹Christ?” They all *said, “Let Him be crucified!” ²³And he said, “Why, what evil did He do?” But they were crying out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

²⁴Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that ^aa riot was starting, he took water and ^bwashed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^cthis man’s blood; ^dsee to that yourselves.” ²⁵And all the people answered and said, “^aHis blood be on us and on our children!” ²⁶Then he released Barabbas ¹for them; but after having Jesus ^ascourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

²⁷^aThen when the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into ^bthe ¹Praetorium, they gathered the whole Roman ²^,^ccohort around Him. ²⁸And they stripped Him and ^aput a scarlet robe on Him. ²⁹^aAnd after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a ¹reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “^bHail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰^aAnd they spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. ³¹^aWhen they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

³²^aAnd as they were coming out, they found a man of ^bCyrene named Simon, ¹whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.

The Crucifixion

³³^aAnd when they came to a place called ^bGolgotha, which means Place of a Skull, ³⁴^athey gave Him ^bwine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He did not want to drink.

³⁵And when they had crucified Him, ^athey divided up His garments among themselves by casting ¹lots. ³⁶And sitting down, they began to ^akeep watch over Him there. ³⁷And above His head they put up the charge against Him ¹which read, “^aTHIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸At that time two robbers *were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹And those passing by were blaspheming Him, ^ashaking their heads ⁴⁰and saying, “^aYou who are going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! ^bIf You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, ⁴²“^aHe saved others; ¹He cannot save Himself. ^bHe is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³“^aHe trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He ¹delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴^aAnd the robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

⁴⁵^aNow from the ¹sixth hour darkness ²fell upon all the land until the ³ninth hour. ⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “^aEli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ⁴⁷And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸^aAnd immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. ⁴⁹But the rest of them were saying, “¹Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him².” ⁵⁰And Jesus ^acried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. ⁵¹^aAnd behold, ^bthe ¹veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom; and ^cthe earth shook and the rocks were split. ⁵²And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the ¹saints who had ^afallen asleep were raised; ⁵³and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered ^athe holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴^aNow the centurion, and those who were with him ^bkeeping guard over Jesus, when they saw ^cthe earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was ^dGod’s Son!”

⁵⁵^aAnd many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ¹^,^bministering to Him. ⁵⁶Among them was ^aMary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and ^bthe mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Jesus Is Buried

⁵⁷^aNow when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled ^aa large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹And ^aMary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.

⁶²Now on the next day, ¹the day after ^athe ²Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, ⁶³and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘^aAfter three days I am to rise again.’ ⁶⁴“Therefore, order for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵Pilate said to them, “You have a ^aguard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶And they went and made the grave secure, and along with ^athe guard they set a ^bseal on ^cthe stone.

Yahweh Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

Yahweh is my ^ashepherd,I ¹shall ^bnot want.²He makes me lie down in ^agreen pastures;He ^bleads me beside ¹^,^cquiet waters.³He ^arestores my soul;He ^bguides me in the ¹^,^cpaths of righteousnessFor His name’s sake.⁴Even though I ^awalk through the ¹valley of the shadow of death,I ^bfear no ²evil, for ^cYou are with me;Your ^drod and Your staff, they comfort me.⁵You ^aprepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You ¹have ^banointed my head with oil;My ^ccup overflows.⁶¹Surely ^agoodness and lovingkindness will ²pursue me all the days of my life,And I will ³^,^bdwell in the house of Yahweh ⁴forever.