The Bible, quoted
in its own voices.

Then Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city. The LORD God prepared a vine and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine. But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine so that it withered. When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he was faint and requested for himself that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”

“Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. You swear by the LORD’s name, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness— for they call themselves citizens of the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel; the LORD of Armies is his name. I have declared the former things from of old. Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them. I did them suddenly, and they happened. Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze; therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them. My engraved image and my molten image has commanded them.’ You have heard it. Now see all this. And you, won’t you declare it? “I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was stricken mute for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king answered, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or the interpretation trouble you.” Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries. The tree that you saw, which grew and was strong, whose height reached to the sky and its sight to all the earth; whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit plentiful, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and on whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation— it is you, O king, that have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth. “Whereas the king saw a holy watcher coming down from the sky and saying, ‘Cut down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky. Let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him.’

Our fathers sinned, and are no more. We have borne their iniquities. Servants rule over us. There is no one to deliver us out of their hand. We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. Our skin is black like an oven, because of the burning heat of famine. They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes were hanged up by their hands. The faces of elders were not honored.

All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is that which shall be, and that which has been done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new”? It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.

A revelation. The LORD’s word is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus— for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward the LORD— and Hamath, also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise. Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.

Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now. He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

He will say, “Build up, build up, prepare the way! Remove the stumbling-block out of the way of my people.” For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, neither will I always be angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made. I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

He said, “Behold, I will make you know what will be in the latter time of the indignation, for it belongs to the appointed time of the end. The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. The rough male goat is the king of Greece. The great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms will stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.