¹¹ But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness,^[a] not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

²⁸ “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, ²⁹ but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. ³⁰ Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

³¹ “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. ³² We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

³³ Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’

² “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

³⁹ I will give the land to your little ones—your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it.

¹⁰ When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Mercy

4 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.

² “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

³ This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.^[a]