Yona 3
1 Neno la Bwana likamjia Yona mara ya pili, akisema,
This message from the Lord came to Jonah the second time,
2 “Ondoka, uende Ninawi, mji ule mkubwa, na uhubiri ujumbe ule ambao nitakuagiza.”
‘Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’
3 Basi Yona akaondoka akaenda Niniawi kwa kutii neno la Bwana. Sasa Ninawi ilikuwa mji mkubwa sana, ilikuwa safari ya siku tatu.
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 Yona akaanza kuingia ndani ya mji, na baada ya safari ya siku, akapaza sauti, akasema, “Katika siku arobaini Ninawi itaangamizwa.”
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 walimwamini Mungu na wakatangaza kufunga. Wote hwakavaa nguo za magunia, kutoka aliyemkubwa hata mdogo.
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 Mapema habari zilimfikia mfalme wa Ninawi. Akasimama kutoka kiti chake cha enzi, akavua vazi lake, akajivika magunia, akaketi katika majivu.
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 Alitoa tangazo ambalo lilsemalo, “katika mji wa Ninawi, kwa mamlaka ya mfalme na wakuu wake, msiruhusu mtu wala mnyama, ng'ombe wala kundi, asionje kitu chochote. Wao wasile wala kunywe maji.
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 Lakini watu na wanyama wawe wamefunikwa kwa magunia na walie kwa sauti kubwa kwa Mungu. Kila mtu ageuke na kuacha njia yake mbaya na kutoka katika udhalimu uliyopo mikononi mwake.
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 Nani anajua? Mungu anaweza kurejea na kubadili mawazo yake na kuacha ghadhabu yake kali ili tusiangamie.”
Who knows? God may relent and avert his fierce anger, so that we may not die.’
10 Mungu akaona yale waliyoyafanya, wakaziacha njia zao mbaya. Kwa hiyo Mungu alibadili mawazo yake juu ya adhabu aliyowaambia angewafanyia, nae hakufanya hivyo.
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.
