Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 A message from the Lord came to Jonah a second time. The Lord said, ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce to its people the message I give you.”

³ Jonah obeyed the Lord. He went to Nineveh. It was a very large city. In fact, it took about three days to go through it. ⁴ Jonah began by going one whole day into the city. As he went, he announced, “In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed.” ⁵ The people of Nineveh believed God’s warning. So they decided not to eat any food for a while. And all of them put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. That’s what everyone did, from the least important of them to the most important.

¹⁰ God saw what they did. He saw that they stopped doing what was evil. So he took pity on them. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.