Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast(A) and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth,(B) and sat in ashes. Then he issued a decree(C) in Nineveh:

By order of the king and his nobles: No person or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God.(D) Each must turn from his evil ways(E) and from his wrongdoing.[a] Who knows?(F) God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.(G)

10 God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways(H)—so God relented from the disaster(I) he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:8 Or injustice, or violence

And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.(A)

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.(B) Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water.(C) Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.(D) Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”(E)

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.(F)

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