5 Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fastq and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.

6 When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth,r and sat in ashes. 7 Then he issued a decrees 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. 8 Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God.t Each must turn from his evil waysu and from his wrongdoing.C 9 Who knows?v God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.w