ignoring god

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven over every impiety and injustice among those men who fend off the truth of God with injustice. ¹⁹For what is known about God is manifest in them. For God has manifested it to them. ²⁰For unseen things about him have been made conspicuous, since the creation of the world, being understood by the things that were made; likewise his everlasting virtue and divinity, so much so that they have no excuse. ²¹For although they had known God, they did not glorify God, nor give thanks. Instead, they became weakened in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was obscured. ²²For, while proclaiming themselves to be wise, they became foolish. ²³And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of flying things, and of four-legged beasts, and of serpents.

²⁴For I called, and you refused. I extended my hand, and there was no one who watched. ²⁵You have despised all my counsels, and you have neglected my rebukes. ²⁶Similarly, I will ridicule you at your demise, and I will mock you, when that which you feared shall overcome you. ²⁷When sudden calamity rushes upon you, and your demise advances like a tempest, when tribulation and anguish overcome you, ²⁸then they will call to me, and I will not heed, they will arise in the morning, and not find me. ²⁹For they held hatred for discipline, and they would not accept the fear of the Lord;

⁶My people have become silent because they had no knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I will drive you away; you do not perform the duties of the priesthood for me, and you have forgotten the law of your God, and so I will forget your sons.

¹And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying: ²Rise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it. For its malice has ascended before my eyes. ³And Jonah rose in order to flee from the face of the Lord to Tarshish. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. And he paid its fare, and he went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish from the face of the Lord. ⁴But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea. And a great tempest took place in the sea, and the ship was in danger of being crushed. ⁵And the mariners were afraid, and the men cried out to their god. And they threw the containers that were in the ship into the sea in order to lighten it of them. And Jonah went down into the interior of the ship, and he fell into a painful deep sleep. ⁶And the helmsman approached him, and he said to him, “Why are you weighed down with sleep? Rise, call upon your God, so perhaps God will be mindful of us and we might not perish.”

²They were corrupted, and they became abominable with iniquities. There is no one who does good. ³God gazed down from heaven on the sons of men, to see if there were any who were considering or seeking God. ⁴All have gone astray; together they have become useless. There is no one who does good; there is not even one. ⁵Will they never learn: all those who work iniquity, who devour my people like a meal of bread? ⁶They have not called upon God. In that place, they have trembled in fear, where there was no fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who please men. They have been confounded, because God has spurned them. ⁷Who will grant from Zion the salvation of Israel? Jacob will exult, when God will convert the captivity of his people; and Israel will rejoice.

⁴⁸Whoever despises me and does not accept my words has one who judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him on the last day.

¹¹A man is not defiled by what enters into the mouth, but by what proceeds from the mouth. This is what defiles a man.”

¹⁹And I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods, stored up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, and be cheerful.’ ²⁰But God said to him: ‘Foolish one, this very night they require your soul of you. To whom, then, will those things belong, which you have prepared?’ ²¹So it is with him who stores up for himself, and is not wealthy with God.”

⁶Therefore, because of this, I have given you dull teeth in every one of your cities, and a lack of bread in all your places. And you have not been turned back towards me, says the Lord. ⁷Therefore, I have withheld the rains from you, when there were still three months left until the harvest. And I rained on one city, and I did not rain on another city; one part was rained on, and the part on which I did not rain, dried out. ⁸And two and three cities went to one city, in order to drink water, and they were not satisfied. And you did not return to me, says the Lord. ⁹I struck you with a burning wind and with yellowing; the caterpillar has consumed your many gardens and your vineyards, your olive groves and your fig groves. And you did not return to me, says the Lord. ¹⁰I sent death to you by way of Egypt; I struck your youths with the sword, even bringing captivity to your horses. And I made the stench of your camp ascend into your nostrils. And you did not return to me, says the Lord. ¹¹I overturned you, just as God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like an ember seized from the fire. And you did not return to me, says the Lord.

²⁰For unseen things about him have been made conspicuous, since the creation of the world, being understood by the things that were made; likewise his everlasting virtue and divinity, so much so that they have no excuse.

²²For concerning the matter of holocausts and sacrifices, I did not speak with your fathers, and I did not instruct them, in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt. ²³But on this matter I did instruct them, saying: Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. And walk in the entire way that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you. ²⁴But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead, they walked by their own will and in the depravity of their own wicked heart. And so, they went backward, and not forward,

⁶But I say this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows with blessings shall also reap from blessings: ⁷each one giving, just as he has determined in his heart, neither out of sadness, nor out of obligation. For God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make every grace abound in you, so that, always having what you need in all things, you may abound unto every good work, ⁹just as it was written: “He has distributed widely, he has given to the poor; his justice remains from age to age.” ¹⁰And he who ministers seed to the sower will offer you bread to eat, and will multiply your seed, and will increase the growth of the fruits of your justice. ¹¹So then, having been enriched in all things, you may abound in all simplicity, which works thanksgiving to God through us.