Jonah 3
1 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying:
This message from the Lord came to Jonah the second time,
2 Rise, and go to Nineveh, the great city. And preach in it the preaching that I say to you.
‘Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’
3 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.
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 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.”
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 if God may turn and forgive, and may turn away from his furious wrath, so that we might not perish?”
Who knows? God may relent and avert his fierce anger, so that we may not die.’
10 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.
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.
