Jonah 3
Legacy Standard Bible
Ninevites Turn from Their Evil Ways
3 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (A)Nineveh, the great city, and (B)call out to it this very call which I am going to speak to you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was [a]an (C)exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. 4 Then Jonah began to go into the city, one day’s walk; and he (D)called out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
5 And the [b]people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a (E)fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, (F)covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the [c]ashes. 7 And he (G)cried out and said,
“In Nineveh by the [d]decree of the king and his nobles[e]: Do not let man, [f]animal, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water.
8 But both man and [g]animal must be covered with sackcloth; and let [h]men (H)call on God with their strength that each may (I)turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in [i]his hands.
9 (J)Who knows, God may turn and relent and turn away from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
10 Then God saw their works, that they (K)turned from their evil way, so (L)God [j]relented concerning the evil which He had spoken He would [k]bring upon them. And He did not [l]bring it upon them.
Footnotes
- Jonah 3:3 Lit a great city to God
- Jonah 3:5 Lit men
- Jonah 3:6 Or dust
- Jonah 3:7 Lit taste, cf. 3:7b
- Jonah 3:7 Lit saying
- Jonah 3:7 Lit beast, cattle
- Jonah 3:8 Lit beast, cattle
- Jonah 3:8 Lit them
- Jonah 3:8 Lit their
- Jonah 3:10 Or regretted, cf. 1 Sam 15:11, 29, 35
- Jonah 3:10 Lit do
- Jonah 3:10 Lit do
Jonah 3
Expanded Bible
God Calls and Jonah Obeys
3 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word 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; C to show their sorrow and repentance]. All the people in the city did this, from the ·most important to the least important [L greatest 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 [C to show sorrow and repentance].
7 He ·sent this announcement [issued a proclamation] through Nineveh:
By ·command [the decree] of the king and his ·important men [nobles]: No person or animal, herd or flock, will be allowed to taste anything. Do not let them eat food or drink water. 8 But every person and animal should be covered with ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth], and people should ·cry loudly [pray earnestly] to God. Everyone must turn away from evil living and stop doing ·harm [violence] all the time. 9 Who knows? Maybe God will ·change his mind [relent]. Maybe he will ·stop being angry [turn from his fierce anger], and then we will not ·die [perish].
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.
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