Jonah 3

1And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.footnote a

4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:footnote bfootnote c

8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

The Ninevites Repent

1Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”

3This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD.
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,footnote a requiring a three-day journey.footnote b 4On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”

5And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

6When 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.

7Then 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. 8Furthermore, 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. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”

10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.