Jonah 3:3-10

English Standard Version

³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now ^(A)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 (B)And the people of Nineveh believed God. ^(C)They called for a fast and ^(D)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 ^(E)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, ^(F)and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ^(G)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor ^(H)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸ but let man and ^(I)beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. ^(J)Let everyone turn from his evil way and from ^(K)the violence that is in his hands. ^9 (L)Who knows? God may turn and relent ^(M)and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

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