Jonah 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Conversion of Nineveh
3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying,(A) 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.(B)
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.(C) 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water.(D) 8 Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.(E) 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”(F)
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.(G)
Jonah 3
Lexham English Bible
The People of Nineveh Repent at Jonah’s Proclamation
3 And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the message that I am telling you.” 3 So Jonah got up[a] and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an extraordinarily great city[b]—a journey of three days across.[c] 4 And Jonah began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he cried out and said, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be demolished!”[d] 5 And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least important.[e]
The King’s Proclamation
6 And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. 7 And he had a proclamation made, and said,
“In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles:
“No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! 8 And the human beings and the animals must be covered with sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his[f] hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn from his blazing anger[g] so that[h] we will not perish.”
10 And God saw their deeds—that they turned from their evil ways—and God changed his mind about the evil that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.[i]
Footnotes
- Jonah 3:3 Or “set out”
- Jonah 3:3 Literally “a great city to God” or “a great city to the gods,” a disputed phrase which may refer to God’s estimate or ownership of Nineveh, to the presence of many idols, or an idiom referring to the size of Nineveh (this translation takes the last view)
- Jonah 3:3 This phrase may also refer to a journey on which business was done, so that “three days” is the total elapsed time
- Jonah 3:4 Or “overthrown”
- Jonah 3:5 Literally “to the smallest of them”
- Jonah 3:8 Hebrew “their”
- Jonah 3:9 Literally “from the heat of his anger”
- Jonah 3:9 Hebrew “and”
- Jonah 3:10 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
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