| 1 | Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: | |
| 2 | "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." | |
| 3 | Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city--a visit required three days. | |
| 4 | On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." | |
| 5 | The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. | |
| 6 | When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. | |
| 7 | Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. | |
| 8 | But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. | |
| 9 | Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." | |
| 10 | When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. | |