Jonah 3
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
This message from the Lord came to Jonah the second time,
2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
“Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”
3 This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
So Jonah started for Nineveh, as the Lord commanded. Now Nineveh was so large a city that it took three days’ journey to cross it.
4 On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, and he proclaimed, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
5 And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they ordered a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
6 When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And when word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, dressed in sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.
And he made this proclamation and published it in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: People, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them not eat nor drink water.
8 Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands.
Let both people and animals put on sackcloth and let them cry earnestly to God; let them each turn from their evil ways and from the deeds of violence which they are doing.
9 Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
Who knows? God may relent and avert his fierce anger, so that we may not die.”
10 When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.
When God saw that they turned from their evil course, he relented the evil which he said he would do to them, and did not do it.
