God Calls and Jonah Obeys

3 The ·Lord spoke his word [^Lword of the Lord came] to Jonah ·again [a second time] and said, ² “Get up, go to the great city Nineveh [1:2], and ·preach [cry out] to it what I tell you to say.”

³ So Jonah obeyed the Lord and got up and went to Nineveh. It was a very large city; just to walk ·across it [or through it all] took a person three days. ⁴ After Jonah had entered the city and walked for one day, he preached to the people, saying, “After forty days, Nineveh will be ·destroyed [overthrown]!”

⁵ The people of Nineveh believed God. They ·announced that they would fast [called for/decreed a fast], and they put on ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth; ^Cto show their sorrow and repentance]. All the people in the city did this, from the ·most important to the least important [^Lgreatest to the least].

⁶ When the king of Nineveh heard this news, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, and covered himself with ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth] and sat in ashes [^Cto show sorrow and repentance].

⁷ He ·sent this announcement [issued a proclamation] through Nineveh:

¹⁰ When God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil, he ·changed his mind [relented] and did not carry out the ·destruction [disaster; punishment] he had threatened.