< 約拿書 3 >
And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying:
2 「你起來!往尼尼微大城去,向其中的居民宣告我所吩咐你的話。」
Rise, and go to Nineveh, the great city. And preach in it the preaching that I say to you.
3 約拿便照耶和華的話起來,往尼尼微去。這尼尼微是極大的城,有三日的路程。
And Jonah rose, and he went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the Lord. And Nineveh was a great city of three days’ journey.
4 約拿進城走了一日,宣告說:「再等四十日,尼尼微必傾覆了!」
And Jonah began to enter into the city one day’s journey. And he cried out and said, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.”
5 尼尼微人信服上帝,便宣告禁食,從最大的到至小的都穿麻衣。
And the men of Nineveh believed in God. And they proclaimed a fast, and they put on sackcloth, from the greatest all the way to the least.
6 這信息傳到尼尼微王的耳中,他就下了寶座,脫下朝服,披上麻布,坐在灰中。
And word reached the king of Nineveh. And he rose from his throne, and he threw off his robe from himself and was clothed in sackcloth, and he sat in ashes.
7 他又使人遍告尼尼微通城,說:「王和大臣有令,人不可嘗甚麼,牲畜、牛羊不可吃草,也不可喝水。
And he cried out and spoke: “In Nineveh, from the mouth of the king and of his princes, let it be said: Men and beasts and oxen and sheep may not taste anything. Neither shall they feed or drink water.
8 人與牲畜都當披上麻布;人要切切求告上帝。各人回頭離開所行的惡道,丟棄手中的強暴。
And let men and beasts be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry out to the Lord with strength, and may man be converted from his evil way, and from the iniquity that is in their hands.
9 或者上帝轉意後悔,不發烈怒,使我們不致滅亡,也未可知。」
Who knows if God may turn and forgive, and may turn away from his furious wrath, so that we might not perish?”
10 於是上帝察看他們的行為,見他們離開惡道,他就後悔,不把所說的災禍降與他們了。
And God saw their works, that they had been converted from their evil way. And God took pity on them, concerning the harm that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.