³⁰ For as ^(A)Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

^17 [a] And the Lord appointed^[b] a great fish to swallow up Jonah. ^(A)And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus ^(A)it is written, ^(B)that the Christ should suffer and on the third day ^(C)rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that ^(D)repentance for^[a] the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed ^(E)in his name ^(F)to all nations, ^(G)beginning from Jerusalem.

⁴⁰ For ^(A)just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, ^(B)so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^41 (C)The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ^(D)condemn it, for ^(E)they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, ^(F)something greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (G)The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, ^(H)something greater than Solomon is here.

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.

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.