Yona 3
1 Ndipo neno la Bwana likamjia Yona mara ya pili:
This message from the Lord came to Jonah the second time,
2 “Ondoka uende katika mji mkubwa wa Ninawi, ukautangazie ujumbe ninaokupa.”
‘Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’
3 Yona akalitii neno la Bwana naye akaenda Ninawi. Basi Ninawi ulikuwa mji maarufu sana, ilichukua siku tatu kuuzunguka.
So Jonah started for Nineveh, as the Lord commanded. Now Nineveh was so large a city that it took three days’ journey to cross it.
4 Siku ya kwanza, Yona aliingia mjini. Akatangaza: “Baada ya siku arobaini Ninawi utaangamizwa.”
Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, and he proclaimed, ‘Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.’
5 Watu wa Ninawi wakamwamini Mungu, wakatangaza kufunga, watu wote kuanzia mkubwa sana hadi yule mdogo kabisa, wakavaa nguo za gunia.
And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they ordered a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
6 Habari zilipomfikia mfalme wa Ninawi, aliondoka kwenye kiti chake cha enzi, akavua majoho yake ya kifalme, akajifunika nguo ya gunia kisha akaketi chini mavumbini.
And when word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, dressed in sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 Ndipo akatoa tangazo katika Ninawi yote: “Kwa amri ya mfalme na wakuu wake: “Msiruhusu mtu yeyote au mnyama, makundi ya ngʼombe au wanyama wengine wafugwao, kuonja kitu chochote, msiwaruhusu kula wala kunywa.
And he made this proclamation and published it in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: People, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them not eat nor drink water.
8 Bali wanadamu na wanyama wafunikwe kwa nguo za gunia. Kila mmoja afanye hima kumwomba Mungu. Waziache njia zao mbaya na udhalimu ulio mikononi mwao.
Let both people and animals put on sackcloth and let them cry earnestly to God; let them each turn from their evil ways and from the deeds of violence which they are doing.
9 Ni nani ajuaye? Huenda Mungu akaghairi kwa huruma yake akaacha hasira yake kali ili tusiangamie.”
Who knows? God may relent and avert his fierce anger, so that we may not die.’
10 Mungu alipoona walivyofanya na jinsi walivyogeuka kutoka njia zao mbaya, akawa na huruma wala hakuleta maangamizi juu yao kama alivyokuwa ameonya.
When God saw that they turned from their evil course, he relented the evil which he said he would do to them, and did not do it.
