Jonah’s Preaching

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:(A) “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh(B) and preach(C) the message that I tell you.” So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.

Now Nineveh was an extremely large city,[a](D) a three-day walk.[b] Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed,(E) “In 40 days Nineveh will be demolished!” The men of Nineveh believed in God.[c] They proclaimed a fast(F) and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth,(G) and sat in ashes. Then he issued a decree(H) in Nineveh:

By order of the king and his nobles: No man or beast, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. Furthermore, both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God.(I) Each must turn from his evil ways(J) and from the violence[d] he is doing.[e] Who knows?(K) God may turn and relent; He may turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish.(L)

10 Then God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways(M)—so God relented from the disaster(N) He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it.

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 3:3 Or was a great city to God
  2. Jonah 3:3 Probably the time required to cover the city on foot
  3. Jonah 3:5 Or believed God
  4. Jonah 3:8 Or injustice
  5. Jonah 3:8 Lit violence in their hands

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah(A) a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,(B) “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.(C)

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.(D) This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.(E) But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call(F) urgently on God. Let them give up(G) their evil ways(H) and their violence.(I) Who knows?(J) God may yet relent(K) and with compassion turn(L) from his fierce anger(M) so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented(N) and did not bring on them the destruction(O) he had threatened.(P)