Yona 3
1 Ndipo neno la Bwana likamjia Yona mara ya pili:
Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jonah, the second time, saying:
2 “Ondoka uende katika mji mkubwa wa Ninawi, ukautangazie ujumbe ninaokupa.”
Arise, get thee unto Nineveh, the great city, —and cry against it the cry that I am bidding thee.
3 Yona akalitii neno la Bwana naye akaenda Ninawi. Basi Ninawi ulikuwa mji maarufu sana, ilichukua siku tatu kuuzunguka.
So Jonah arose, and went his way unto Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh, —Nineveh, being a city great before God, of three days’ journey.
4 Siku ya kwanza, Yona aliingia mjini. Akatangaza: “Baada ya siku arobaini Ninawi utaangamizwa.”
So Jonah began to enter into the city, one day’s journey, —and he cried out and said—Yet forty days, and, Nineveh, is to 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 in God, —and proclaimed a fast, and clothed themselves in sackcloth, from the greatest of them, even unto 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 the word reached unto the king of Nineveh, so he arose from his throne, and laid aside his robe from off him, —and covered him with sackcloth, and sat on 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 caused an outcry to be made—and said—throughout Nineveh, By decree of the king and of his great men, Be it known: —Man and beast, herd and flock, Let them taste, nothing, let them not feed, and, water, let them not drink:
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 man and beast, cover themselves with sackcloth, and let them cry unto God, mightily, —Yea let them turn, every man from his wicked way, and from the violence which is in their hands:
9 Ni nani ajuaye? Huenda Mungu akaghairi kwa huruma yake akaacha hasira yake kali ili tusiangamie.”
Who knoweth whether God himself—may turn and grieve, —and turn away from the glow of his anger, that we perish not?
10 Mungu alipoona walivyofanya na jinsi walivyogeuka kutoka njia zao mbaya, akawa na huruma wala hakuleta maangamizi juu yao kama alivyokuwa ameonya.
And God saw their doings, that they turned from their wicked way, —and God was grieved over the calamity which he had spoken of executing upon them, and executed it not.
