Jonah 3
1 Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jonah, the second time, saying:
Ilizwi leNkosi laselifika kuJona ngokwesibili, lisithi:
2 Arise, get thee unto Nineveh, the great city, —and cry against it the cry that I am bidding thee.
Sukuma, uye eNineve, lowana umuzi omkhulu, utshumayele kuwo intshumayelo engikutshela yona.
3 So Jonah arose, and went his way unto Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh, —Nineveh, being a city great before God, of three days’ journey.
UJona wasesukuma, waya eNineve, njengokwelizwi leNkosi. Phela iNineve yayingumuzi omkhulu kakhulu, uhambo lwezinsuku ezintathu.
4 So Jonah began to enter into the city, one day’s journey, —and he cried out and said—Yet forty days, and, Nineveh, is to be overthrown!
UJona waseqala ukungena emzini, uhambo losuku olulodwa. Wamemeza, wathi: Kusesezinsuku ezingamatshumi amane, khona iNineve izagenqulwa.
5 And the people of Nineveh believed in God, —and proclaimed a fast, and clothed themselves in sackcloth, from the greatest of them, even unto the least of them.
Abantu beNineve basebekholwa kuNkulunkulu, bamemezela ukuzila ukudla, bagqoka amasaka, kusukela komkhulu wabo kwaze kwaba komncinyane wabo.
6 And the word reached unto the king of Nineveh, so he arose from his throne, and laid aside his robe from off him, —and covered him with sackcloth, and sat on ashes.
Ngoba ilizwi lafinyelela enkosini yeNineve; yasisukuma esihlalweni sayo sobukhosi, yakhulula isembatho sayo kuyo, yazimbomboza ngesaka, yahlala emlotheni.
7 And he caused an outcry to be made—and said—throughout Nineveh, By decree of the king and of his great men, Be it known: —Man and beast, herd and flock, Let them taste, nothing, let them not feed, and, water, let them not drink:
Yasimemezela yathi kuyo iNineve ngomthetho wenkosi labakhulu bayo, isithi: Kakungabi lomuntu, kumbe inyamazana, inkomo kumbe imvu, okuzanambitha loba yini; kakungadli, kakunganathi amanzi.
8 Let both man and beast, cover themselves with sackcloth, and let them cry unto God, mightily, —Yea let them turn, every man from his wicked way, and from the violence which is in their hands:
Kodwa kakuthi umuntu lenyamazana kwembeswe amasaka, bakhale kuNkulunkulu ngamandla, yebo, baphenduke, ngulowo lalowo endleleni yakhe embi, lodlakeleni olusezandleni zabo.
9 Who knoweth whether God himself—may turn and grieve, —and turn away from the glow of his anger, that we perish not?
Ngubani owaziyo, uNkulunkulu angaphenduka azisole, aphenduke asuke kukuvutha kolaka lwakhe, ukuze singabhubhi.
10 And God saw their doings, that they turned from their wicked way, —and God was grieved over the calamity which he had spoken of executing upon them, and executed it not.
UNkulunkulu wasebona imisebenzi yabo, ukuthi baphendukile endleleni yabo embi; uNkulunkulu wazisola ngobubi ayethe uzabenza kubo, akaze abenza.
