Jonah’s Preaching

1The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:a 2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveha and preachb the message that I tell you.” 3Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.

Now Nineveh was an extremely great city,a a a three-day walk. 4Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed,a “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished! ” 5Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fasta and dressed in sackcloth — from the greatest of them to the least.

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

10God saw their actions — that they had turned from their evil waysa — so God relented from the disasterb he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.