^5 (A)And the people of Nineveh believed God. ^(B)They called for a fast and ^(C)put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

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

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, ^(M)how they turned from their evil way, ^(N)God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will ^(A)pluck up and break down and destroy it,

⁸ and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, ^(A)turns from its evil, ^(B)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.