Day 291 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Jonah 2

1 Now the Lord had commanded a great whale to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights. 2 And Jonas prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the whale, 3 and said, I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he hearkened to me, [even] to my cry out of the belly of hell: thou heardest my voice. 4 Thou didst cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and the floods compassed me: all thy billows and thy waves have passed upon me. 5 And I said, I am cast out of thy presence: shall I indeed look again toward thy holy temple? 6 Water was poured around me to the soul: the lowest deep compassed me, my head went down 7 to the clefts of the mountains; I went down into the earth, whose bars are the everlasting barriers: yet, O Lord my God, let my ruined life be restored. 8 When my soul was failing me, I remembered the Lord; and may my prayer come to thee into thy holy temple. 9 They that observe vanities and lies have forsaken their own mercy. 10 But I will sacrifice to thee with the voice of praise and thanksgiving: all that I have vowed I will pay to thee, the Lord of [my] salvation. 11 And the whale was commanded by the Lord, and it cast up Jonas on the dry [land].

Jonah 3

1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonas the second time, saying, 2 Rise, go to Nineve, the great city, and preach in it according to the former preaching which I spoke to thee of. 3 And Jonas arose, and went to Nineve, as the Lord had spoken. Now Nineve was an exceeding great city, of about three days' journey. 4 And Jonas began to enter into the city about a day's journey, and he proclaimed, and said, Yet three days, and Nineve shall be overthrown. 5 And the men of Nineve believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloths, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 And the word reached the king of Nineve, and he arose from off his throne, and took off his raiment from him, and put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes. 7 And proclamation was made, and it was commanded in Nineve by the king and by his great men, saying, Let not men, or cattle, or oxen, or sheep, taste [any thing], nor feed, nor drink water. 8 So men and cattle were clothed with sackcloths, and cried earnestly to God; and they turned every one from their evil way, and from the iniquity that was in their hands, saying, 9 Who knows if God will repent, and turn from his fierce anger, and [so] we shall not perish? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways; and God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did [it] not.

Jonah 4

1 But Jonas was very deeply grieved, and he was confounded. 2 And he prayed to the Lord, and said, O Lord, were not these my words when I was yet in my land? therefore I made haste to flee to Tharsis; because I knew that thou art merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and repentest of evil. 3 And now, Lord God, take my life from me; for [it is] better for me to die than to live. 4 And the Lord said to Jonas, Art thou very much grieved? 5 And Jonas went out from the city, and sat over against the city; and he made for himself there a booth, and he sat under it, until he should perceive what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God commanded a gourd, and it came up over the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, to shade him from his calamities: and Jonas rejoiced with great joy for the gourd. 7 And God commanded a worm the next morning, and it smote the gourd, and it withered away. 8 And it came to pass at the rising of the sun, that God commanded a burning east wind; and the sun smote on the head of Jonas, and he fainted, and despaired of his life, and said, [It is] better for me to die than to live. 9 And God said to Jonas, Art thou very much grieved for the gourd? And he said, I am very much grieved, even to death. 10 And the Lord said, Thou hadst pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not suffered, neither didst thou rear it; which came up before night, and perished before [another] night: 11 and shall not I spare Nineve, the great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of human beings, who do not know their right hand or their left hand; and [also] much cattle?

1 Thessalonians 5

1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 3 For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. 4 But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. 5 You are all children of light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, 6 so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do. 12 But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to respect and honor them in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 We exhort you, brothers: Admonish the disorderly; encourage the faint-hearted; support the weak; be patient toward all. 15 See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good for one another and for all. 16 Always rejoice. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. 19 Don’t quench the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies. 21 Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.