³¹ that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to ^(A)their fasts and their lamenting.

³ And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, ^(A)with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them ^(B)lay in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for ^(A)three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, ^(B)and if I perish, I perish.”^[a]

² “Arise, go to ^(A)Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now ^(B)Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,^[a] three days' journey in breadth.^{[b] 4} Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ^5 (C)And the people of Nineveh believed God. ^(D)They called for a fast and ^(E)put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

⁶ The word reached^[c] the king of Nineveh, and ^(F)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, ^(G)and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ^(H)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor ^(I)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸ but let man and ^(J)beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. ^(K)Let everyone turn from his evil way and from ^(L)the violence that is in his hands. ^9 (M)Who knows? God may turn and relent ^(N)and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”