Jonah 3
1 Then Yahweh said to Jonah again,
And the word of Jehovah came to 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 to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to her the words which I shall speak to 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 to Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was through God a great city, three days' journey in extent.
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 enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried out and said, Yet forty days, 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 God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even 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 came to the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, and put off his mantle and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in 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 it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them 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 cry mightily to God. Yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that 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 can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce 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 turned from their evil way: and God repented of the evil which he had said that he would do to them, and he did it not.
