Jonah 3
1 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah for a second time.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 “Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and announce the message I'm giving you.”
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3 Jonah did what God told him. He set out and went to Nineveh, a city that was so big it took three days to walk through it.
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.
4 Jonah went into the city, walking for one day, shouting out, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed!”
On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
5 The people of Nineveh believed in God. They announced a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
6 When the news of what was happening reached the king of Nineveh he came down from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
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.
7 Then the king and the nobles issued a proclamation throughout Nineveh: “No person, no animal, no herd, and no flock, shall eat or drink anything.
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.
8 Every person and every animal is to wear sackcloth. Everyone is to pray sincerely to God, give up the evil things they do, and stop using violence.
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.
9 Who knows? God may change his mind and relent. He may decide not to destroy us in his fierce anger.”
Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
10 God saw what they had done—that they had given up their evil ways—so he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
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.
