Jonah 3
1 Then Yahweh said to Jonah again,
And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 “Go to that great city of Nineveh, and tell them the message that I gave you [previously].”
Arise, go unto Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim unto it the proclamation which I shall speak unto thee.
3 So [this time] Jonah obeyed Yahweh, and he went to Nineveh. That city was so big that a person [had to walk] for three days to completely [go through] it.
And Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a great city before God, a three days' journey.
4 On the first day [after] Jonah [arrived], he [began walking] through the city. He was proclaiming (OR, At the end of that day he started proclaiming) to the people, “Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed {[God] will destroy Nineveh}!”
And Jonah began to go through the city one day's journey, and he called out, and said, Yet forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s [message]. They [all] decided that everyone should begin (fasting/abstaining from food). So [everyone], including important people and unimportant people, [did that]. They [also] put on coarse cloth, [to show that they were sorry for having sinned].
And the men of Nineveh believed in God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
6 The King of Nineveh heard [what the people were doing]. [So] he took off his royal robes, and [he also] put on coarse cloth. He left his palace, and sat down where there were [cold] ashes, [to show that he also was sorry for having sinned].
For when the matter was come unto the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, and put off his mantle from him, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down on ashes.
7 Then he sent messengers to proclaim to [the people in] Nineveh: “My advisors and I have decreed that no one may eat or drink anything. Do not even allow your animals to eat or drink.
And he caused to be proclaimed and he published through Nineveh, By the decree of the king and his chief men, it is said, Neither man nor beast, neither herds nor flocks, shall taste any thing; they shall not feed, nor drink water;
8 Instead, every person must put on coarse cloth. [Put coarse cloth on] your animals, [too]. Then everyone must pray fervently to God. And everyone must stop doing evil actions/things, and stop acting violently [toward others].
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let [men] call unto God with might; and let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence which is in their hands.
9 Perhaps, [if everyone does that], God may change his mind and be merciful [to us], and stop being very angry with us, with the result that we will not die.”
Who knoweth, but God may turn and bethink himself, and turn away from the fierceness of his anger, that we perish not?
10 When they [all did that], God saw what they were doing, and he saw that they had stopped doing evil things. So [he pitied them, and] he did not get rid of them as he had threatened to do.
And God saw their works, that they had turned from their evil way: and God bethought himself of the evil, which he had spoken that he would do unto them, and he did it not.
