Jonah 3

CHAPTER 3

Ninevites Turn from Their Evil Ways

¹Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying,

²“Arise, go to ^aNineveh, the great city, and ^bcall out to it this very call which I am going to speak to you.”

³So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was ¹an ^aexceedingly great city, a three days’ walk.

⁴Then Jonah began to go into the city, one day’s walk; and he ^acalled out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

⁵And the ¹people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a ^afast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

⁶Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, ^acovered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ¹ashes.

⁷And he ^acried out and said,

“In Nineveh by the ¹decree of the king and his nobles²: Do not let man, ³animal, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water.

⁸“But both man and ¹animal must be covered with sackcloth; and let ²men ^acall on God with their strength that each may ^bturn from his evil way and from the violence which is in ³his hands.

⁹“^aWho knows, God may turn and relent and turn away from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”

¹⁰Then God saw their works, that they ^aturned from their evil way, so ^bGod ¹relented concerning the evil which He had spoken He would ²bring upon them. And He did not ³bring it upon them.