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)

¶ Bondye pale yon dezyèm fwa ankò ak Jonas,

li di l' konsa: -Leve non! Ale lavil Niniv, gwo kapital la. Fè yo konnen mesaj mwen te ba ou pou yo a.

Se konsa, Jonas leve, li ale lavil Niniv jan Seyè a te di l' la. Niniv te yon gwo lavil ki mande twa jou pou mache soti nan yon bout ale nan lòt bout la.

Jonas antre nan lavil la. Li fè yon jounen ap mache. Epi li pran pale ak moun yo. Li di yo konsa: -Nan karant jou lavil Niniv pral disparèt.

¶ Moun lavil yo te kwè nan mesaj Bondye a. Yo bay lòd pou tout moun, malere kou grannèg, rete san manje, pou yo mete rad sak sou yo pou moutre jan yo nan lapenn pou tout mal yo te fè.

Nouvèl la rive nan zòrèy wa lavil Niniv la. Li leve sou fotèy li a, li wete bèl rad ki te sou li a, li mete rad sak sou li. Lèfini, li chita atè nan sann dife.

Li voye fè yon piblikasyon nan tout lavil la. Li di konsa: -Men lòd wa a ansanm ak lòt chèf li yo bay: Pesonn pa pou manje anyen. Ni moun, ni bèf, ni mouton, tout pou rete san manje san bwè.

Tout moun va gen rad sak sou yo. Tout bèt va nan lapenn. Tout moun va lapriyè Bondye ak tout kè yo. Y'a kite tout move zak ak tout mechanste yo te konn fè nan lavi yo.

Nou pa janm konnen, Bondye ka chanje lide. L'a règrèt sa li tapral fè a, li p'ap fache sou nou ankò. Konsa, nou p'ap mouri.

10 Bondye wè sa yo t'ap fè a. Li wè yo te soti pou yo chanje lavi yo vre. Se konsa li chanje lide. Li pa pini yo ankò jan li te di li tapral pini yo a.

Jonah Preaches at Nineveh

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, [a]a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then (A)he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

The People of Nineveh Believe

So the (B)people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth (C)and sat in ashes. (D)And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his [b]nobles, saying,

Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, (E)let every one turn from his evil way and from (F)the violence that is in his hands. (G)Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

10 (H)Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 3:3 Exact meaning unknown
  2. Jonah 3:7 Lit. great ones