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Jonah 3
New King James Version
Jonah 3
New King James Version
Jonah Preaches at Nineveh
3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” 3 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. 4 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
5 So the (B)people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 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. 7 (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. 8 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. 9 (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.
Jonah 3
English Standard Version
Jonah 3
English Standard Version
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (A)Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now (B)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 (C)And the people of Nineveh believed God. (D)They called for a fast and (E)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 (F)he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, (G)and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, (H)“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor (I)beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and (J)beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. (K)Let everyone turn from his evil way and from (L)the violence that is in his hands. 9 (M)Who knows? God may turn and relent (N)and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, (O)how they turned from their evil way, (P)God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Jonah 3
1599 Geneva Bible
Jonah 3
1599 Geneva Bible
3 1 Jonah is sent again to Ninevah. 5 The repentance of the king of Ninevah.
1 And the word of the Lord came unto [a]Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh that great city, and preach unto it the preaching which I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord: now Nineveh was a [b]great and excellent city of three days journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s [c]journey, and he cried and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh [d]believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them, even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he proclaimed and said through Nineveh, (by the counsel of the king and his nobles) saying, Let neither man, nor [e]beast, bullock nor sheep taste anything, neither feed nor drink water.
8 But let man and beast put on sackcloth, and [f]cry mightily unto God: yea, let every man turn from his evil way, and from the wickedness that is in their hands.
9 [g]Who can tell if God will turn, and repent and turn away from his fierce wrath, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their [h]works that they turned from their evil ways: and [i]God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not.
Footnotes
- Jonah 3:1 This is a great declaration of God’s mercy, that he receiveth him again, and sendeth him forth as his Prophet, which had before showed so great infirmity.
- Jonah 3:3 Read Jonah 1:2.
- Jonah 3:4 He went forward one day in the city, and preached, and so he continued till the city was converted.
- Jonah 3:5 For he declared that he was a Prophet sent to them from God to denounce his judgments against them.
- Jonah 3:7 Not that the dumb beasts had sinned or could repent, but that by their example man might be astonished, considering that for his sin the anger of God hanged over all creatures.
- Jonah 3:8 He willed that the men should earnestly call unto God for mercy.
- Jonah 3:9 For partly by the threatening of the Prophet, and partly by the motion of his own conscience, he doubted whether God would show them mercy.
- Jonah 3:10 That is, the fruits of their repentance, which did proceed of faith, which God had planted by the ministry of his Prophet.
- Jonah 3:10 Read Jer. 18:8.
Jonah 3
New International Version
Jonah 3
New International Version
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah(A) a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 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. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,(B) “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.(C)
6 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) 7 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) 8 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) 9 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)
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) 
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.