Jonah 3
1 And the word of the Lord was maad the secounde tyme to Jonas, and seide, Rise thou,
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 and go in to Nynyue, the greet citee, and preche thou in it the prechyng which Y speke to thee.
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3 And Jonas roos, and wente in to Nynyue, bi the word of the Lord. And Nynyue was a greet citee, of the iurnei of thre daies.
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 And Jonas bigan for to entre in to the citee, bi the iornei of o dai, and criede, and seide, Yit fourti daies, and Nynyue schal be `turned vpsodoun.
On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
5 And men of Nynyue bileueden to the Lord, and prechiden fastyng, and weren clothid with sackis, fro the more `til to the lesse.
And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
6 And the word cam til to the kyng of Nynyue; and he roos of his seete, and castide awei his clothing fro him, and was clothid with a sak, and sat in aische.
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 And he criede, and seide in Nynyue of the mouth of the kyng and of `his princis, `and seide, Men, and werk beestis, and oxun, and scheep taaste not ony thing, nether be fed, nether drynke watir.
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 And men be hilid with sackis, and werk beestis crie to the Lord in strengthe; `and be a man conuertid fro his yuel weie, and fro wickidnesse that is in the hondis of hem.
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 woot, if God be conuertid, and foryyue, and be turned ayen fro woodnesse of his wraththe, and we schulen not perische?
Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
10 And God sai the werkis of hem, that thei weren conuertid fro her yuel weie; and God hadde merci on the malice which he spac, that he schulde do to hem, and did not.
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.
