UJona 3
1 Ilizwi leNkosi laselifika kuJona ngokwesibili, lisithi:
And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying:
2 Sukuma, uye eNineve, lowana umuzi omkhulu, utshumayele kuwo intshumayelo engikutshela yona.
Rise, and go to Nineveh, the great city. And preach in it the preaching that I say to you.
3 UJona wasesukuma, waya eNineve, njengokwelizwi leNkosi. Phela iNineve yayingumuzi omkhulu kakhulu, uhambo lwezinsuku ezintathu.
And Jonah rose, and he went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the Lord. And Nineveh was a great city of three days’ journey.
4 UJona waseqala ukungena emzini, uhambo losuku olulodwa. Wamemeza, wathi: Kusesezinsuku ezingamatshumi amane, khona iNineve izagenqulwa.
And Jonah began to enter into the city one day’s journey. And he cried out and said, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.”
5 Abantu beNineve basebekholwa kuNkulunkulu, bamemezela ukuzila ukudla, bagqoka amasaka, kusukela komkhulu wabo kwaze kwaba komncinyane wabo.
And the men of Nineveh believed in God. And they proclaimed a fast, and they put on sackcloth, from the greatest all the way to the least.
6 Ngoba ilizwi lafinyelela enkosini yeNineve; yasisukuma esihlalweni sayo sobukhosi, yakhulula isembatho sayo kuyo, yazimbomboza ngesaka, yahlala emlotheni.
And word reached the king of Nineveh. And he rose from his throne, and he threw off his robe from himself and was clothed in sackcloth, and he sat in ashes.
7 Yasimemezela yathi kuyo iNineve ngomthetho wenkosi labakhulu bayo, isithi: Kakungabi lomuntu, kumbe inyamazana, inkomo kumbe imvu, okuzanambitha loba yini; kakungadli, kakunganathi amanzi.
And he cried out and spoke: “In Nineveh, from the mouth of the king and of his princes, let it be said: Men and beasts and oxen and sheep may not taste anything. Neither shall they feed or drink water.
8 Kodwa kakuthi umuntu lenyamazana kwembeswe amasaka, bakhale kuNkulunkulu ngamandla, yebo, baphenduke, ngulowo lalowo endleleni yakhe embi, lodlakeleni olusezandleni zabo.
And let men and beasts be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry out to the Lord with strength, and may man be converted from his evil way, and from the iniquity that is in their hands.
9 Ngubani owaziyo, uNkulunkulu angaphenduka azisole, aphenduke asuke kukuvutha kolaka lwakhe, ukuze singabhubhi.
Who knows if God may turn and forgive, and may turn away from his furious wrath, so that we might not perish?”
10 UNkulunkulu wasebona imisebenzi yabo, ukuthi baphendukile endleleni yabo embi; uNkulunkulu wazisola ngobubi ayethe uzabenza kubo, akaze abenza.
And God saw their works, that they had been converted from their evil way. And God took pity on them, concerning the harm that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
