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Jonah Preaches in Nineveh

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Get up. Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh just as the word of the Lord had commanded. Now Nineveh was a great city to God. It required a three-day walk.[a] Jonah walked through the city for a day, and he called out, “Forty more days and Nineveh is going to be overthrown!”

Nineveh Repents

The men of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh.

By the decree of the king and his leading officials:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything. Do not let them eat food or drink water. Instead, let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call fervently to God. Let them turn from their evil way and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent. He may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.

10 When God saw their actions, that they had turned from their evil way, God relented from the disaster which he said he would bring on them, and he did not carry it out.

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 3:3 This apparently means it would take Jonah three days to preach throughout the various sections of the city, but the meaning is uncertain.

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah(A) a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,(B) “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.(C)

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.(D) This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.(E) But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call(F) urgently on God. Let them give up(G) their evil ways(H) and their violence.(I) Who knows?(J) God may yet relent(K) and with compassion turn(L) from his fierce anger(M) so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented(N) and did not bring on them the destruction(O) he had threatened.(P)